Do medical students knowledge and attitudes about health and exercise affect their physical fitness?
Liang MT; Dombrowski HT; Allen TW; Chang CO; Andriulli J; Bastianelli M; Davina E; Norris SD Department of Family Practice, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford. This study examined the relationship between unselected first-year medical students’ knowledge and attitudes about health or exercise and their personal physical fitness. The 131 subjects performed a maximal exercise test to determine physical fitness by measuring maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max), underwent hydrostatic weighing to assess body fat content (percent body fat), and completed a questionnaire to measure their knowledge and attitudes about health promotion/disease prevention and exercise. Many independent variables were significantly associated with VO2max in bivariate analyses, but only percent body fat, resting systolic blood pressure, and perceived barriers to health promotion/disease prevention and to exercise were significant predictors of VO2max (mL x k
