Background and objective:  It is little known about physical fitness and the effects of body mass index (BMI) among college students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to study the effects of various aspects of weight on physical fitness and comparison of these factors among female and male college student of Bushehr city.

Materials and methods: In this quasi-experimental study 149 students were selected from Payame Noor University, Bushehr branch. Based on body mass index (BMI) these students were divided into three groups: obese and overweight, normal weight and underweight group. Different physical fitness was assessed using standard college tests. SPSS 16 was used for analysis of data at levels of α<0.05. T independent test were used to analyze the data of two of the groups.

Results: Mean of physical fitness tests was higher in underweight students. There were a significant differences in all tests, 540 meter (p < 0.001), 4×9 meter run (p < 0.001), sit-up test (p < 0.001) and push up test (p < 0.001) and vertical jump (p < 0.001) among male and female students.

Conclusion: Overweight/obese students had poorer performance in cardiovascular endurance, agility and power of lower limb than non-obese subjects. Results of this study show that female students had lower scores on all fitness components.

Paper Type: Research Article.