engleski

Differences in leisure activities between primary school students from rural and urban areas of the Sisak-Moslavina county

A survey in which a questionnaire was administered to a sample of 300 male and female primary school students in grades 5 to 8, divided into those from urban (city) and rural (country) environments based on where they went to school, showed that children from rural areas do not have a varied selection of kinesiological leisure activities. Children in rural areas practice kinesiological leisure activities more frequently even though their material standard of living is lower. It is likely that the availability of space to move around plays a greater role in practicing a kinesiological activity than the parents' material standard of living. Despite the fact that these are relatively simple and cheap sports, the effect of daily physical exercise is achieved. Children from urban areas have much better prospects, which is demonstrated by some of the survey results, particularly those questions referring to the estimate of their socioeconomic status. This refers first of all to the fact that the parents are relatively better educated, then to the fact that both parents are employed, in almost 61% of the cases, and we should not overlook the fact that in almost 29% of the cases one of the parents of urban children plays a sport. They have a much better opportunity to join a sports club where organised exercise is available, while children from rural areas are left with playing sports on an individual basis. Regardless of all these opportunities the results show something different, which is that almost two thirds of the children in urban areas practice no kinesiological activity at all. Today students' leisure time is most frequently viewed from a sociopedagogical aspect, so guiding students to devote this leisure time to physical activity presents a challenge to kinesiologists. It is important for them to prepare students to choose kinesiological activities among those which are imposed and aggressive, and which require no physical exertion. The wider social community needs to become involved in this process and provide the appropriate sports facilities in order to follow the students' interests and provide extracurricular activities which will enable students to engage in kinesiologial activity in their leisure time. In order to improve child health, it is imperative to introduce promotional-preventive activities in school, which would have a positive effect on increasing children's awareness of the importance of physical activity.

students; leisure time; kinesiological activity; urban and rural areas

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