Health-Related Physical Fitness, BMI, physical activity and time spent at a computer screen in 6 and 7-year-old children from rural areas in Poland
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2014, Vol 21, Issue 3
Abstract
The objective of the study was determination of the effect of various forms of physical activity, BMI, and time devoted to computer games on the level of Health-Related Physical Fitness (H-RF) in 6–7-year-old children from Polish rural areas. The study covered 25,816 children aged 6–7: 12,693 girls and 13,123 boys. The evaluations included body height and weight, and 4 H-RF fitness components (trunk strength, explosive leg power, arm strength and flexibility). The BMI was calculated for each child. The Questionnaire directed to parents was designed to collect information concerning the time devoted by children to computer games, spontaneous and additional physical activity. The strength of the relationships between dependent and independent variables was determined using the Spearman’s rank correlation (R[sub]Sp[/sub]), and the relationship by using the regression analysis. The BMI negatively affected the level of all the H-RF components analysed (p=0.000). The negative effect of computer games revealed itself only with respect to flexibility (p=0.000), explosive leg power (p=0.000) and trunk muscle strength (p=0.000). A positive effect of spontaneous activity was observed for flexibility (p=0.047), explosive leg power (p=0.000), and arm strength (p=0.000). Additional activity showed a positive relationship with trunk muscles strength (p=0.000), and explosive leg power (p=0.000). The results of studies suggest that it is necessary to pay attention to the prevention of diseases related with the risk of obesity and overweight among Polish rural children as early as at pre-school age. There is also a need during education for shaping in these children the awareness of concern about own body, and the need for active participation in various forms of physical activity.
Authors and Affiliations
Elżbieta Cieśla, Edward Mleczko, Józef Bergier, Małgorzata Markowska, Grażyna Nowak-Starz
Patient care after heart and kidney transplantation – case report
A patient after vascularized organ transplantation requires especially attentive medical care because of the risk of rejection of the transplant, the necessity for monitoring immunosuppressive therapy, and increased susc...
Symptomatic co-infection with Babesia microti and Borrelia burgdorferi in patient after international exposure; a challenging case in Poland
The report presents a well-documented case of symptomatic co-infection of[i] Babesia microti[/i] and [i]Borrelia burgdorferi[/i] in a Polish immunocompetent patient after travelling to Canada and the USA.
Abundance of questing ticks and molecular evidence for pathogens in ticks in three parks of Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy
Introduction and objective. Infectious and parasitic diseases transmitted by ticks, such as Lyme diseases, granulocytic anaplasmosis and piroplasmosis, have been frequently reported in Europe, with increasing attention t...
Life style and risk of development of breast and ovarian cancer
Introduction: Many risk factors may be monitored, and individual decisions concerning life style exert an effect on most factors associated with the development of cancer. It is estimated that the majority of malignant c...
Molecular evidence of [i]Anaplasma phagocytophilum[/i] and [i]Babesia microti co-infections[/i] in[i] Ixodes ricinus[/i] ticks in central-eastern region of Poland
The aim of the study was to elucidate the distribution of [i]Anaplasma phagocytophilum[/i] and [i]Babesia microti co-infection[/i] in [i]Ixodes ricinus[/i] populations within the central-eastern region of Poland. The pre...