Effect of fitness classes on the physical and mental health of 35-55-year-old women living in Australia, Ukraine, and the UAE

Abstract

The article illustrates the proof of the scientific guess about that physical and mental health of women, who do fitness, is better than those women, who don’t do fitness. There are results of the conducted survey (SF-36 questionnaire) of target group – women in the second period of maturity (aged 35-55) in Australia, the United Arabic Emirates and Ukraine. Comparing empiric data according to Student’s criterion, the authors justify that there are statistically valid differences between all of the findings in all points and charts of the SF-36 questionnaire (р<0, 05), this proves that women (aged 35-55) who do fitness, evaluate their physical and mental health condition higher, than those female respondents who do not attend health-improving fitness classes. At the same time, the level of respondents’ satisfaction with physical and mental well-being in the samples (first sample is represented by women who do fitness, and the second one – by women who do not attend fitness classes) differs in accordance with the country, where the respondents live. The study reports, that among those women who do fitness, Ukrainian women are more satisfied with their physical condition, the least satisfied respondents of this sample are the women from the United Arabic Emirates. There are the same tendencies among those women who do not attend fitness training classes. The key findings proved that fitness classes have a positive impact on women’s perception of their physical and mental health. Due to the data of the conducted survey such a conclusion can be made that those social and cultural conditions of the country, where women live, influence respondents’ subjective perception of their health. It is less relevant to women who do fitness, and more relevant to those women, who do not attend fitness training. Conducting more surveys on the basis of the SF-36 questionnaire is considered as a follow-up study trend.