Physical fitness status of Egyptian children aged 9-18 years

Male (n = 399) and female (n = 311) Egyptian school children, aged 9-18 yrs, had their fitness evaluated using the 6-item AAHPER test. Comparisons of the 50th percentiles of the AAHPER norms with the median scores for the Egyptian sample revealed that the latter were substantially below average fitness levels. Egyptian boys performed significantly better than girls on all comparable test items, even when the effects of age, height, and weight were held constant by covariance. Eight weeks of twice weekly intensified physical education instruction produced significant improvements in all test items for both sexes.