Abstract:
The physical fitness is the ability to carry out daily
tasks with vigorous and alertness without undue
fatigue. A fit and healthy person will live longer
and youth are backbone to nation. Therefore the
research question raised to assess the fitness level
of the Sri Lankan youth and objective of the study
was to construct a new fitness test norms for Sri
Lankan age 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 years old youth
boys and girls based on AAHPER test. To achieve
the purpose of this study 1000 girls and boys (age
10-17 years) selected from various provinces in
Sri Lanka by random sampling method. The data
were collected using the AAHPER test batteries
which consist with six test items 50 yard run,
standing broad jump, shuttle run, pull-up for
boys and flex arm hang for girls, sit up and 600
yard run respectively and was analyzed by using
SPSS. From the results, following percentile
norms were created 5th 10th 15th 20th 25th 30th 35th
40th 45th 50th 55th 60th 65th 70th 75th 80th 85th 90th
95th 100th. From the results it was concluded that,
newly constructed norms are slightly lower than
AAHPER youth fitness test battery. Hence it was
recommended that, newly constructed fitness
norms are appropriate to categorize fitness level of
the Sri Lankan youth. Further studies are essential
to enhance the reliability and validity of the newly
constructed norms.
