engleski

Relationship between Pupils’ Functional Capacity and Physical Activity

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between primary school pupils’ physical activity and their functional capacity. Many people are unaware that health is the most important aspect of any person’s life, and that it is closely associated with movement. In recent decades the number of obese people, children and adolescents has significantly increased. Furthermore, the modern lifestyle of children and young people increasingly lacks movement and participation in outdoor games, and it is prevailingly sedentary (TV, Internet, Play Station ...), which can have adverse effects on the development of children’s abilities and skills as well as their health status. The present study included 80 third grade primary school pupils, 43 boys (mean age 9.30 ± 0.46 years) and 37 girls (mean age 9.29 ± 0.47 years). The pupils attended two primary schools in the town of Petrinja, namely the First Primary School and Primary School Dragutin Tadijanović. The survey was conducted in the school year 2014/2015. The sample of variables consisted of anthropometric measures of body height, weight, upper arm skinfold, back skinfold, and abdominal skinfold. Functional abilities were measured with a 3-minute running test - F3, which is used to assess the level of pupils’ functional ability at the primary education level in the Republic of Croatia. The level of physical activity was estimated with the PAQ- C questionnaire. Based on the obtained results, it is evident that, of the total sample, 60% of pupils have a normal percentage of body fat, while 40% of pupils have excessive body fat. The results of this study indicate a high percentage of pupils who are overweight. Functional capacity was inversely associated with obesity indicators, which means that pupils with high levels of functional capacity have a lower percentage of body fat. School age is the best time to stimulate and exert positive impact on children’s growth and development, especially since the opportunities missed at that age cannot be compensated at later stages of life.

aerobic capacity ; functional abilities ; obesity ; pupils ; school

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