This chapter begins by describing certain features of fitness patterns that were observed among indigenous circumpolar residents at the time of the IBP-HAP surveys, particularly seasonal effects and inter- and intra-community differences related to the early phases of acculturation to a sedentary, urban lifestyle. Information on secular trends in aerobic power, anaerobic power and capacity, lean tissue mass and muscle strength is then drawn from communities where cross-sectional surveys have been repeated or longitudinal analyses undertaken. Changes in cold tolerance are considered in similar fashion, and finally the possibility of developing community programmes to conserve physical fitness is explored in the context of indigenous societies.

Lifestyle, season and fitness: the IBP-HAP findings

Fitness levels

Early information on the physical fitness of circumpolar populations, obtained mainly by non-standard methodology, was summarized in Chapter 1. Despite limitations in the available data, the conclusion was drawn that in the 1950s and 1960s, the small samples of people that were tested had a higher fitness level than would have been expected in sedentary city dwellers of similar age. However, it was unclear whether those examined were representative of their communities, and it was also uncertain how much the individual fitness levels may have been biased downward by such factors as malnutrition and the ravages of chronic disease, particularly tuberculosis (Andersen & Hart, 1963).

Aerobic power

The IBP-HAP data on aerobic power is summarized in Table 5.1 and Fig. 5.1. At most of the circumpolar test sites, direct measurements of maximal oxygen intake were only obtained on small samples of subjects, with younger adults preponderating.