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An Analysis of Development Trends in Physical Fitness for Taiwan’s Children and Adolescents 251
ligament, so that resistance of the body against hurt
and ache can be tested.
(3) Muscle endurance: Using the frequency of
“one-minute sit-up” to evaluate the muscle endurance
in the abdomen, whereby the capability of doing
activities over a log period of time can be
measured.
(4) Cardiovascular endurance: Using the time needed in
“800-meter /1,600- meter run” (speed) to evaluate
efficiency in the operation of the heart, blood vessel,
lungs, and muscle over a long period of time, or the
capability of the foregoing organs in fatigue over a
long period of time, in order to measure the body’s
resistance to physical and mental pressure.
(5) Muscle strength: Using the distance measures in
“standing long jump” to evaluate the maximum
power produced by muscle in the shortest period of
time, since muscle strength is usually the basis of
the capability in sports.
2. Change Trends in Physical Fitness for Taiwan’s
Children and Adolescents
The Ministry of Education has since 1992 conducted
four major surveys on physical fitness for high
school and elementary school students aged 10-18.
The results of the first survey undertaken in 1997 and
the one in 2005 serve as the reference material for
analysis to understand recent development trends in
physical fitness for Taiwan’s children and adolescents.
goes up as they advance in grades, with the number of
overweight and obese male students being evidently
greater than that for female students. (Department of
Physical Education, the Ministry of Education, Republic
of China, 2007).
In accordance with the surveys done in 2006 and
2007 by the Department of Health on health behaviors
of junior high, senior high, senior vocational high, and
junior college students, one third of them in 2006 and
one fourth of them in 2007 were overweight and obese.
As to the reasons behind the trend, researchers found
that about 80 percent of junior high students took sweet
beverages for more than two days a week and that approximately
20 percent of them ate fast food more than
twice each week. They also discovered that a 40 percent
plurality worked out less than three days per week,
another 20 percent watched TV for two consecutive
hours per day, and still another 10 percent logged on
computers and played computer games for over two
hours a day (Department of Health, Executive Yuan,
Republic of China, 2008). It is obvious that Taiwan’s
children and adolescents in general do not eat balanced,
nor do they take enough exercise, a phenomenon that
should not be overlooked.
(1) Chang of BMI
In view of a high correlation among BMI, the
body fat, the mortality rate, and the rate of disease suffering,
the World Health Organization has suggested
that nations adopt BMI as the index for obesity (WHO,
2000). Both Figure 1 and Figure 2 show that the BMI
for the various age groups of children and adolescents
in Taiwan is on the increase, among male students in
particular. Besides, the rate for moderate weight among
elementary students goes down while the obesity rate