Physical characteristics of medical students at UOEH (1979-1996).

: The purpose of this study is to explore future directions for health and physical education at UOEH. To do so, the authors first analyzed data taken from physical fitness tests conducted for newly incoming medical students every year since UOEH was founded more than twenty years ago. It was seen that male students tended to be overweight, but that the level of their physical fitness was about the same as the national average. We then managed to obtain data from a physical fitness test conducted for about 50 members of the 1997 graduating class just after their graduation. The results from comparing these data with those taken six years before showed a remarkable tend: that is, the males who had been already over-weight when they became freshmen, tended to gain more weight over the six years spent at UOEH. This paper examines the causes of these results, and an ideal future Japanese university health and physical education plan.