Me. Finkenberg et Jm. Dinucci, AGE, ETHNIC AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PHYSICAL-FITNESS OF MIDDLE-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN EAST TEXAS, Perceptual and motor skills, 80(2), 1995, pp. 387-393
This research studied the health-related physical fitness status of bo
ys and girls in Grades 5 and 6 in a rural school district in East Texa
s in an examination of possible age, ethnic, and gender differences. A
three-way multivariate analysis of variance was conducted with gender
, ethnicity, and age as the independent variables and nine physical me
asurements as the dependent variables. Height was the most important d
iscriminating physical measurement, with girls significantly taller th
an boys at ages 10 and 11 and with boys significantly taller than girl
s at age 13. Canonical discriminant function separated black children
from both Caucasian and Hispanic children in height, weight, mile run,
systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure.