Influence of movement interventions in primary school children in Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F49777513%3A23420%2F22%3A43965821" target="_blank" >RIV/49777513:23420/22:43965821 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Influence of movement interventions in primary school children in Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic

Original language description

Many leading practitioners in science and politics in Europe are concerned about the decrease in the levels of physical activity amongst the young, and the increase in childhood obesity as a result of the diminishing role of sport in schools and in leisure time. Since 2002, the allocated time for schools’ sports in the curricula of different European countries has been reduced. Eighty per cent of school age children are only physically active during school sports lessons, but should exercise at least for one hour per day according to international guidelines (WHO, 2010; Baker et al., 2010). Furthermore, recent German expert consensus recommendations for promoting the physical activity of children and adolescents propose 90 minutes of physical activity, or at least 12,000 steps, daily (Graf et al. 2014). Sports lessons at school, however, amount to 50 to 80 hours per year, which corresponds to less than 10% of the overall hours taught, or approximately half the time allocated to teaching maths. Sports lessons at school offer a unique opportunity for children and young people to gain and practise skills that may become the foundation for lifelong fitness and health. Moreover, interaction between participants during sports activities trains them in basic fair play, respect, and tactical thinking abilities. Active sports also develop an increased physical and social awareness. The acquisition of social competencies through sports activities, both in schools and clubs, needs to be acknowledged as a key skill that enhances pupils’ learning for life. The intervention programme aims to bridge the gap between the status quo and a more desirable, long-term goal in physical fitness in children. The thinking behind the annual intervention is to support children at the crucial age of between 9 and 11 years in finding a type of sport that would build on their natural abilities and talents. This helps establish a lifelong healthy and active lifestyle. It covers a unique variety of sports, specifically developed experience-based didactics, and a scientifically based, objective assessment method. This leads to specific recommendations for each child and their parents as to which possible sport might be the most suitable for the child. The intervention is designed to enable a sports teacher to identify the specific motor skills (testing motor skills), the movement (qualitative observation criteria), and the child’s own motivation in each type of sport introduced. This is then compared with the data from the other sports disciplines tried out during the programme. The children themselves get to know the aims, ideas, and special characteristics of different types of sports and movements, and are able to compare and evaluate them, based on their own level of enjoyment of the sports (feedback on enjoyment after each session). The child is actively involved in the discernment process through participating in, trying out, and comparing the different disciplines. Based on their professional expertise, the sports teacher, in turn, accompanies the discernment process, and acts as an important advisor for the child and the parents. Children find it increasingly hard to choose a suitable sport, and this concept gives them an early taster of a whole variety of possibilities. Based at school, but connecting with local sports clubs, intervention can be the stepping stone into lifelong active participation in sports, and the promotion of good health. Therefore, the aims of the present study are: (1) the comparison of motor performance in primary school children in Spain, the Czech Republic, and Germany, (2) the investigation of the dependency of body weight and motor performance, and finally, (3) the determination of the effects of the exercise intervention programme on motor performance.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

O - Miscellaneous

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50301 - Education, general; including training, pedagogy, didactics [and education systems]

Project

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Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů