Abstract

Women, though, have some structural disadvantage over men in respect to physical strength, but stamina and skill and also the prejudices of consequent ill effect have started participating increasingly more in sports proving marriage and motherhood is not the end of active life. Studies were conducted to examine the post marital changes in both sedentary and active women in respect to structural variables for verifying the utility of physical activities even after marriage. Data collected before marriage from 50 each sedentary and active women on the structural variables like height, weight, biepicondylar humerus width, biepicondylar femur width and fat percentage were compared by paired ‘t’ test to that collected 6–9 months after marriage. Significant effect of marriage on both active and sedentary women in respect to almost all the variables was noticed. Before marriage, no significant difference in the value of body weight among the active and sedentary women was found. Sedentary women, before marriage, had higher fat percentage (10.18%) and BMI (5.01%) but lower biepicondylar humerus width (19%) and biepicondylar femur width (21%). In active women body weight (4.78%), BMI (5.01%) and the biepicondylar femur width increased while fat percentage (5.90%) and the biepicondylar humerus width (3.84%) decreased after marriage but in sedentary women all the values increased in the tune of 4.04%, 4.08%, 1.05% and 2.49%, respectively, for body weight, BMI, fat% and the biepicondylar humerus width after marriage. In respect to fat% active women had significant post marital loss (6%), while sedentary women had gain (1%), difference in fat% between active and sedentary women being wider from 10% higher in sedentary women before marriage to 18% after marriage. Biepicondylar humerus width had 4% loss in active and 2.49% gain in sedentary women. The study thus revealed important facts about the structural changes that marriage brings to women, particularly in respect to body weight and BMI which is negative from physical fitness point of view thus showing the importance of physical exercise and fitness activities of the women even after marriage.