Primary school children's health and its association with physical fitness development and health-related factors

Gerhard Ruedl; Armando Cocca; Katharina C. Wirnitzer; Derrick Tanous; Clemens Drenowatz; Martin Niedermeier; Gerhard Ruedl; Armando Cocca; Katharina C. Wirnitzer; Derrick Tanous; Clemens Drenowatz; Martin Niedermeier

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2024001

AIMS Public Health

2024, Volume 11, Issue 1: 1-18. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2024001

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Research article

Primary school children's health and its association with physical fitness development and health-related factors

1.
Department of Sport Science, University of Innsbruck, Furstenweg 185, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
2.
Department of Human Movement Studies, University of Ostrava, Dvořákova 138/7, 70200 Ostrava, the Czech Republic
3.
Department of Research and Development in Teacher Education, University College of Teacher Education Tyrol, Pastorstraße 7, 6010 Innsbruck, Austria
4.
Research Center Medical Humanities, Leopold-Franzens University of Innsbruck, Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
5.
Division of Sport, Physical Activity and Health, University of Education Upper Austria, Kaplanhofstraße 40, 4020 Linz, Austria

Received: 11 July 2023 Revised: 28 October 2023 Accepted: 07 November 2023 Published: 04 December 2023

The health status (HS) of children is influenced by a variety of factors, including physical fitness (PF) or social and environmental characteristics. We present a 4-year longitudinal study carried out with 263 primary school children. PF was assessed yearly using the German Motor Performance Test 6–18. Demographic data, leisure time behavior and socioeconomic factors were collected using questionnaires for children and parents. Based on parents' ratings in year 4, children were categorized as either “very good health status” (VGHS) or “good health status or below” (GHSB). Children with VGHS (73%) showed a larger improvement of global PF (p < 0.001), a significantly higher proportion of being/playing outside (p < 0.001), significantly lower proportions of overweight (p < 0.001), of media availability in the bedroom (p = 0.011) and of daily media consumption > 2 h (p = 0.033) compared to children with GHSB. Regarding socio-economic factors, children with VGHS revealed significantly fewer parents with lower education (p = 0.002), lower physical activity levels (p = 0.030) and lower migration background (p < 0.001). Physical fitness (p = 0.019) and outdoors exercising (p = 0.050) were the only variables to provide significantly higher chances of perceiving one's own health as very good when tested within a complex model including all the variables studied in this work. Considering the little focus on PF in the current Austrian physical education curriculum and the favorable environmental features of the Tyrolean region, more emphasis should be given to promoting didactical and pedagogical approaches that allow schoolers to be active in the nature.
- well-being,
- conditional skills,
- physical activity,
- youth,
- media consumption,
- socio-economic factors
Citation: Gerhard Ruedl, Armando Cocca, Katharina C. Wirnitzer, Derrick Tanous, Clemens Drenowatz, Martin Niedermeier. Primary school children's health and its association with physical fitness development and health-related factors[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2024, 11(1): 1-18. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2024001

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Abstract

The health status (HS) of children is influenced by a variety of factors, including physical fitness (PF) or social and environmental characteristics. We present a 4-year longitudinal study carried out with 263 primary school children. PF was assessed yearly using the German Motor Performance Test 6–18. Demographic data, leisure time behavior and socioeconomic factors were collected using questionnaires for children and parents. Based on parents' ratings in year 4, children were categorized as either “very good health status” (VGHS) or “good health status or below” (GHSB). Children with VGHS (73%) showed a larger improvement of global PF (p < 0.001), a significantly higher proportion of being/playing outside (p < 0.001), significantly lower proportions of overweight (p < 0.001), of media availability in the bedroom (p = 0.011) and of daily media consumption > 2 h (p = 0.033) compared to children with GHSB. Regarding socio-economic factors, children with VGHS revealed significantly fewer parents with lower education (p = 0.002), lower physical activity levels (p = 0.030) and lower migration background (p < 0.001). Physical fitness (p = 0.019) and outdoors exercising (p = 0.050) were the only variables to provide significantly higher chances of perceiving one's own health as very good when tested within a complex model including all the variables studied in this work. Considering the little focus on PF in the current Austrian physical education curriculum and the favorable environmental features of the Tyrolean region, more emphasis should be given to promoting didactical and pedagogical approaches that allow schoolers to be active in the nature.

Conflict of Interest

Clemens Drenowatz is an editorial board member for AIMS Public Health and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests.

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