Effect of physical exercises on anthropometric parameters, blood pressure and heart rate of young people and adults in Matola city–Mozambique

Abstract

Introduction: physical inactivity is a risk factor for chronic non-communicable diseases, causing morbidity and mortality and weight gain in the economy of nations. Objective: to analyze the effect of combined physical exercises on anthropometric and hemodynamic parameters in young and adults people in Cidade da Matola. Methodology: 22 subjects from 23 to 60 years old (8 female and 14 male) were randomly selected in 2017. The anthropometric assessment consisted of weight, height, BMI and waist circumference. Hemodynamic variables were evaluated with an Omron M3-HEM-7131-E tensiometer. The sample performed combined physical exercises for three consecutive months. Using SPSS, 20.0, at 95% CI, the non-parametric WILCOXON test was applied to examine the effect of physical exercises on the variables of interest. Results: globally, weight and BMI increased over the course of the intervention, however without statistical differences, on the other hand, height, WP, SBP, DBP and HR differed statistically: P=(0.019; 0.008; 0.048; 0.006; 0.000) respectively. After analyzing the sex, only male individuals registered statistically significant differences for WP, DBP and HR: P=(0.023; 0.006; 0.000) respectively. The age range of individuals aged ≥ 36 years revealed a significant effect of the intervention on the variables WP, DBP and HR: P=(0.022; 0.042; 0.001) respectively. Conclusions: although the sample size was small, globally, the effect of the intervention on the variables of interest was notorious, especially in Blood Pressure, Heart Rate and Waist Perimeter.