EXAMINING LEVELS OF PERCEPTION ON HEALTH AND FITNESS IN SPECIAL POPULATION OF KARNATAKA STATE

Nagaraja S., Prakash S. M. and Gajanana Prabhu B.

Abstract

Individuals with hearing and visual impairment are substantially more likely to report poor, fair, or worsening health compared to the general population. Knowledge about own health and fitness should be possessed by every individual. This is utmost necessary to avoid health complications in future. The levels of perception about health and fitness is indispensable in avoiding health complications of serious nature.The purpose of the present study was to examine the levels of perception on health and fitness in hearing and visual impaired children of Karnataka state.The subjects for the study were 414 male special children from various parts of Karnataka state. Among them 243 were visually impaired and 171 hearing impaired from various residential special schools located in various districts of Karnataka state. Their age ranged between 13 to 18 years. Body Mass Index was used as measure of health status and Sit and Reach test was used for assessing fitness of selected subjects. Levels of perception were assessed through a self-structured questionnaire prepared for this purpose. The students had to rate their perceived BMI and back flexibility on a three-point scale.Pearson product moment correlation was used a statistical tool apart from descriptive statistics like mean and standard deviation.