Physical Work Capacity and Nutritional Status in Ethiopian Male Children and Young Adults

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Abstract
Physical work tests making use of bicycle ergometry and dynamometry were performed on six groups of children and adults in Addis Ababa. The values of bicycle ergometer tests, as calculated per capita, were lower throughout than those earlier observed in Swedish and United States agemates but when related to body weight the values were higher (pupils from public school), equal (pupils from private school), or lower (air force cadets, shoe-factory workers). For the dynamometer tests reference values were available only for Swedish adults. The difference (in a negative direction) was small for the cadets, more pronounced for the shoe-factory workers. It was not possible to demonstrate any definite correlation between the results of the physical work tests and the nutritional status of the subjects or the quality of the diet as measured by a 24hr recall. It is striking that in spite of often very inadequate diets, the achievements were on the whole reasonably good. The implications of these findings with respect to the definition of various types of “requirements” warrant further discussion.

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