ECSS Paris 2023: CP-MH14
INTRODUCTION: School-based interventions combining nutritional education, physical activity, reduced sedentary activities and a behavioral management component have been reported to promote a healthy body weight, cardiometabolic health, and the acquisition of a healthy lifestyles. It also appears that school health education programs are associated with higher levels of physical activity and a better physical fitness among children. Interventions in which parents are involved also appear to be more effective than those performed without parents. Indeed, parents play an important role in acquiring a healthy lifestyle for their children, such as a balanced diet and a physically active lifestyle. METHODS: Thirty-three children (6 boys / 27 girls) aged between 10 and 13 years were included in this study. They participated in two to three workshops per week for 25 weeks. One to two sessions were devoted to physical activity and the last weekly meeting was specific to nutrition. Anthropometric measurements and physical fitness were measured at the beginning as well as at the end of intervention. RESULTS: Based on body mass index, our participants were not considered as overweight or obese. Furthermore, participants had a good perception of their sports skills. Indeed, participants indicated that they perceived themselves as having excellent or good sports skills. In terms of motivation, we asked the students what motivated them to be active. Here are the three reasons encouraging our participants to practice a sport or physical activity. These reasons remain similar from the beginning to the end of the program. The first motivation is to be in better shape (19 (70.3%) at the beginning and 21 (77.8%) at the end), the second is to maintain good health (19 (70.3%) at the beginning and 21 (77.8%) at the end), and the third motivation is to spend more time with their friends (15 (55.6%) at the beginning and 16 (59.3%)). During the intervention, participants reported more hours of moderate and high-intensity physical activity per week (+2.34 hours/week). However, this increase was not significant. We found a significant improvement in most of the physical tests performed during the study: grip strength (p=0.0015), seated sit-ups (p<0.0001), arm extensions (p<0.0001) and flexibility (p=0.0099). Cardiorespiratory fitness, measured with the 20-m shuttle run, was also significantly improved during the intervention (p=0.0002). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that a 25 weeks school intervention program is sufficient to improve physical fitness of children.
Read CV Patricia BlackburnECSS Paris 2023: CP-MH14
INTRODUCTION: Supporting people to adopt and maintain an active lifestyle is a worthwhile goal. Across Europe, around 27% of over 15-year-olds participate in self-organized sport without supervision. In addition to promoting motor fitness, this emphasizes the need to develop a training competence, that enables people to plan, carry out and evaluate their training activities independently according to their individual requirements and without the need for supervision. Training competence encompasses knowledge on effects, exercises and methods of training and the application of that knowledge as well as perceiving exertion and pacing training accordingly. Here we investigate the relationship between physical fitness (PF) and training competence (TC). This is based on the assumption that training competence is acquired during the training process. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with adolescents in German schools from grades 5-12 (138m / 77f; M 16.05 SD 2.56 years) and bivariate Pearson correlation and (multiple) linear regression analysis were performed to analyze the relationship between PF (independent variable) and TC (dependent variable). PF was determined with different tests for strength, coordination, flexibility and aerobic endurance and values were standardized to ensure comparability. TC (five facets with three items each) was collected using a standardized questionnaire with five-point Likert scales [1]. RESULTS: The standardized total score for PF showed a moderate positive correlation with total TC (n = 215; r = .318; p = <.001). Significant correlations were found for all five facets (r = .16 - .35). Differences in the correlations between girls and boys are not significant; only slight differences were found between some classes for three facets. The regression, controlled for sex and age, explained 18% of the variance in total TC (r2 = .18, f (3, 209) = 15.29, p <.001) and showed a significant association with total TC for PF (beta = .28, p <.001). Significant associations were found for four of the five facets (beta = .11 - .30). Age was negatively associated with total TC (beta = -.26, p <.001). CONCLUSION: As expected, higher PF in adolescents correlates positively with TC overall and PF is a predictor of TC. Future research should include the assessment of training experience as a suspected moderator between PF and TC [2] and beyond that help clarify the unexpected negative correlation between age and TC. References: [1] Braksiek, M. et al. (2022). In M. Wegner & J. Juergensen (Hrsg.), Sport, Mehr & Meer: Sportwissenschaft in gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung: 25. Dvs-Hochschultag, Kiel (S. 441). Feldhaus, Edition Czwalina [2] Thienes, G. et al. (2022). In M. Wegner & J. Juergensen (Hrsg.), Sport, Mehr & Meer: Sportwissenschaft in gesellschaftlicher Verantwortung: 25. Dvs-Hochschultag, Kiel (S. 439). Feldhaus, Edition Czwalina.
Read CV Johannes große SiemerECSS Paris 2023: CP-MH14
INTRODUCTION: Beunen and Malina (1986) reported that 25% of boys exhibit a temporary decrease in running speed during the growth spurt period. Furthermore, Philippaerts et al. (2006) found that 30m dash speed decreased by -0.6 seconds/year 12 months before the age of peak height velocity (APHV) in junior soccer players. Kokudo (2019) indicated that there may be a temporary stagnation in running speed development and a deterioration of running movement due to adolescent awkwardness (AK) just before or after the APHV. He also highlighted the difficulty in treating the occurrence of AK as a group phenomenon due to significant individual differences in the timing of rapid developmental stages and motor skills, underscoring the necessity of meticulously tracking individual changes. The purpose of this study was to investigate methods for clarifying the appearance of AK and the characteristics of its subsequent development. Additionally, it aimed to elucidate the process of onset and offset of AK through a case study targeting individuals who have undergone continuous training and have long-term records of height and athletic performance. METHODS: We hypothesized that the emergence of AK would be more likely in exercises that involve moving ones body weight, and that this feature would be more pronounced with ongoing training. The subject was a Japanese male who continuously performed the high jump from primary school until adulthood, with a final height of 180.5 cm and a best high jump record of 2.15m. Growth data were collected from school health checkup records. Due to the rarity of individuals recording all their performances, records equaling or surpassing previous personal bests and the ages at which these records were achieved were used as data. A modified BTT model, including two logistic functions with the infant growth period defined as constant, was used for growth data. For the high jump record, the BTT model, characterized by three logistic functions, was employed to analyze performance development (Bock et al., 1990). RESULTS: The goodness of curve fitting was R^2 = 0.999 for growth and R^2 = 0.994 for high jump performance development, indicating excellent fits. The peak height velocity (PHV) was 10.66 cm/year at age 12.25 years. Performance development speed was less than 5.0 cm/year from ages 10.9 to 12.7 years. A rapid development speed was observed shortly thereafter, from 13.0 to 13.8 years of age, reaching 126.8 cm/year at 13.4 years of age, 1.15 years after APHV. At this time, the height velocity was 6.74 cm/year, which was 63.2% of the PHV. The growth rate remained above 7 cm/year until around 17 years of age. CONCLUSION: The BTT model, with three combined logistic functions, adequately explained the growth in height and development of performance. In this sample, performance stagnation was observed during the period corresponding to the adolescent surge phase, but the end of the growth surge phase represented an explosive period of rapid developmental progression.
Read CV Shohei KokudoECSS Paris 2023: CP-MH14