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Physical fitness can be defined as the ability of the body to adjust to the demands and stresses of physical effort and is thought to be a measure of one´s physical health. There are several components of fitness. The benefits of physical fitness are tremendous. Several factors will affect an individual´s fitness level and these include diet, heredity, exercise habit, stress, adopted life styles and etc. Different peoples will have different kinds of life styles. For example, adopting drug abuse, like smoking, khat chewing, alcohol drinking and soon will be included. The khat plant (catha edulis Forssk) is a tree of the family Celastraceae that is widely cultivated in certain areas of East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The pleasurable central stimulant properties of khat are commonly believed to improve work capacity, are used on journeys and by students preparing for examinations and to counteract fatigue. Khat chewing has immediate and long-term effects. Here in this book,effect of khat chewing on components of physical fitness is placed.

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Bizuayehu Walle Birhane: MSc in Medical Physiology from Jimma University. Lecturer at Bahir Dar University in College of Medicine and Health Science, Ethiopia.

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