Original scientific paper

Physical activity of children during regular stay in a preschool institution

Zvonimir Tomac orcid.org/0000-0001-6639-010X ; Sveučilište J.J.Strossmayera u Osijeku, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti
Tihomir Vidranski ; Sveučilište J.J.Strossmayera u Osijeku, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti
Jelena Ciglar ; Sveučilište J.J.Strossmayera u Osijeku, Fakultet za odgojne i obrazovne znanosti

Abstract

Physical activity in the period of childhood and adolescence is an important factor from the public health point of view. Reduced physical activity of children and consequences of such a sedentary lifestyle represent today both a global and a public health problem. According to the World Health Organization, physical activity is defined as any bodily movement that is performed by skeletal muscles, and which requires energy expenditure above the level of inaction. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the daily physical activity of preschool children during their stay in kindergarten for a period of one week. A pedometer was used on the total sample of 24 preschool children (10 girls and 14 boys) with an average age of 6.5 years (SD = 0.41) to measure their physical activity through the registered number of steps in the period between 8.30 and 11.00 a.m. The results of this research show that children in a preschool institution are active in accordance with current research and perform between 2,290 and 5,460 steps in a day, depending on the daily program. We also noticed that there were no gender differences in activity between boys and girls in the number of steps (U = 188.00; Z = -0.311, p = 0.755), and the Friedman ANOVA established differences between individual days of the week (χ2 = 14, 90, p = 0.004). The results indicate that children still need to be further encouraged to exercise because the stay in a preschool institution alone is not sufficient for optimal physical activity.

Keywords

preschool children; pedometer; physical activity

Hrčak ID:

152224

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/152224

Publication date:

29.1.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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