The subjective profile of positive health and survival abilities in women differing as to physical activity

Abstract

Background The main aim of the study is to define the profile of positive health and survival abilities in women differing as to physical activity. Thus formulated study aim was connected with answering the following question: do young women, undergraduate students at the Faculty of Tourism and Recreation, who declare daily physical activity substantially differ from their peers declaring occasional activity in the sense of positive health in all its aspects and in self-assessment of their survival abilities? Material/Methods: The profile of women’s positive health and survival abilities was defined on the basis of Kalina’s original methodology (2012) taking into account four aspects of indices: the somatic (A), mental (B), social (C) and reflecting survival abilities (D) ones. The arithmetic mean calculated for indices A to D represents the most general index of the Sense of Positive Health and Survival Abilities (SPHSA). The studied group was composed of female students from the Faculty of Tourism and Recreation completing their education at the undergraduate level (6th semester). 24 students declared daily physical activity, and 34 students the occasional one. The subjects’ age was within the range of 20–23 years (21.24±0.99). Results: Women declaring daily physical activity surpass their occasionally active peers in the SPHSA index – 3.740 and 3.427, respectively (p<0.01). The highest value of indices in both groups was noted in social health (4.08 and 3.95), while the lowest one in the survival ability (3.5 and 3.165). Students who are active every day have statistically higher values than their occasionally active peers in the following indices: aerobic capacity (p<0.01), flexibility (p<0.001), muscular power (p<0.001), lesser aggressiveness (p<0.05), anxiety (p<0.001), skill of safe falling (p<0.05), and the ability to act precisely before and after physical activity (p<0.05). Conclusions: Physical activity constitutes an important factor modifying the sense of positive health and the survival ability. The structure of the SPHSA profile was similar in both groups. The differences regarded the intensity of those aspects which undergo the greatest changes under the influence of physical activity: somatic and mental health.