The purpose of our study was to investigate if organised physical activity of athletics increase ... more The purpose of our study was to investigate if organised physical activity of athletics increase the overal amount and intensity of physical activity during and after an athletics session. Using an accelereometer we measured weekly physical activity in 22 children (11 boys, aged 6.6 ± 1.2 years), including two hours of organised athletics. During athletics physical activity reached 1787 ± 620 (without athletics 615,5 ± 116,6) counts/minute, with most prevalent physical inactivity (29 ± 11,7 minutes) and moderate to vigorous physical activity (19,0 ± 8,9 minutes). Two weekly hours of athletics increased average daily time of moderate to vigorous physical activity (16 %; P < 0,001) and decreased the time of physical inactivity (–10 %; P < 0,001). Athletics contrbutes to achieving physical activity norms; however, more focus should be placed on increasing the intensity of physical activity during organised hours of athletics.
Biceps femoris is a major propulsor muscle in sprinting and its contraction time negatively corre... more Biceps femoris is a major propulsor muscle in sprinting and its contraction time negatively correlates to the running speeds of adults. Our aim was to compare age and gender- related correlations between vastus lateralis and biceps femoris contraction times and running speeds during a longitudinal study of 9- to 14-year old children. On a yearly basis we conducted vastus lateralis and biceps femoris tensiomyographic measurements of muscle contraction time and maximal running speeds measured during 7 meter sprints with flying starts using photocells in 107 children (53 boys). Vastus lateralis contraction time was not correlated with the running speed. However, biceps femoris contraction time was negatively correlated with the running speed only in boys after the age of 12.9 years (Pearson r ranges from -0.391 to -0.426; p < 0.002). It was concluded that biceps femoris contraction time is far less correlated with running speed than in adult athletes (Pearson r = -0.60); however, th...
Conceptualization of Talent in Sport. The purpose of this paper is to present the interdisciplina... more Conceptualization of Talent in Sport. The purpose of this paper is to present the interdisciplinary problem of giftedness and talent in the Slovene elementary school system and attempt to meaningfully interpret the terminology of both terms for the field of sport education. Despite the considerable attention paid to researching the changing understanding of giftedness in relation to talent, talent in sports environments and the applicable value of conceptualization are still not known. One reason for this is that sports talent has not been adequately defined in the Slovenian program and legislative platforms.
Namen studije je bil ugotoviti, koliko izvensolska organizirana vadba atletike pripomore k dvigu ... more Namen studije je bil ugotoviti, koliko izvensolska organizirana vadba atletike pripomore k dvigu kolicine in intenzivnosti gibalne/sportne aktivnosti otrok med samo uro atletike in izven nje. Z merilnikom pospeska smo izmerili tedensko gibalno/sportno aktivnost 22 otrok (11 deckov, starih 6,6 ± 1,2 leta), vkljucujoc dve uri organizirane vadbe atletike. Med uro atletike je skupna gibalna/sportna aktivnost 1787 ± 620 sunkov/minuto (brez atletike 615,5 ± 116,6), prevladuje gibalna neaktivnost (29 ± 11,7 minute) ter srednja in visoka intenzivna gibalna/sportna aktivnost (19,0 ± 8,9 minute). Dve uri atletike na teden povecata povprecno dnevno srednjo in visoko intenzivno gibalno/sportno aktivnost (16 %, P < 0,001) ter zmanjsata cas gibalne neaktivnosti (–10 %, P < 0,001). Atletika sicer prispeva k doseganju priporocil na podrocju gibanja, toda stremeti bi bilo treba k se vecji intenzivnosti izvedbe ur atletike.
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to establish the effective time parameters of physica... more Introduction: The purpose of this study was to establish the effective time parameters of physical education (PE) lessons and the amount of time that children spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Methods: The study involved a total of 189 third-grade pupils (94 boys and 95 girls), aged 8 to 9 years, from five primary schools in the Slovenian coastal region. We used an accelerometer in each school to measure the quantity and intensity of activity during three PE lessons led by the class teacher and / or PE teachers. Results: We found that the average duration of a PE lesson was 36.6 ± 7.7 minutes: lesson preparation time 14.9 ± 7.7 minutes, the main activity 19.3 ± 7.1 minutes and the conclusion 1.8 ± 2.4 minutes. Time spent in MVPA was 13.2 ± 4.1 minutes, with no statistical differences between genders (P = 0.338). An average PE lesson carried outdoor on the outside playground lasted an average 7 minutes less than lesson in the gym (P = 0.066) , and the average PE...
The world faces an epidemic of general physical inactivity, impeding the achievement of a suffici... more The world faces an epidemic of general physical inactivity, impeding the achievement of a sufficient level of medium- and high-intensity physical / sport activities (P / SA ). Never in human history were people less physically active than they are now, both at work and in their free time. The most problematic seem to be children and adolescents whose level of P / SA decreases and is not sufficient for maintaining health. School plays an important role in ensuring sufficient and quality P / SA . Ph ysical education is a key period during school when students can be physically active . Consequently, policy makers and moderators of strategies in the field of movement, health and sport should strive to develop the appropriate curriculum and strategies for increasing the volume, intensity and quality of P / SA during physical education. Teachers should pay particular attention, with didactic and methodical approaches, to the achievement of medium- and high-intensity of children’s P / SA.
Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the health risk of childhood obesity and associated chroni... more Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the health risk of childhood obesity and associated chronic diseases as well as mental health problems. Since PA declines as children age as well with future generations it is of highest importance to intervene in school and out-of-school settings. Out-of-school periods affect children's PA as it is mainly left to the interest and motivation of their parents. We compared accelerometer-based PA patterns in 93 6- to 9-year old children assessed four times: before (May/June), during (August), and after (September) summer holidays and at a 1-year follow up (May/June). Before summer holidays children were assessed also for anthropometry and motor tests. During summer holidays overall PA decreased by 18% (p < 0.001), physical inactivity increased by 5.5% (p < 0.001), moderate PA decreased by 53% (p < 0.001) and moderate to vigorous PA decreased by 45% (p < 0.001) when compared to before summer holidays. Furthermore, overall PA remaine...
Factors related to physical behaviour of children are important in understanding the characterist... more Factors related to physical behaviour of children are important in understanding the characteristics of their physical activity. Apart from the factors of physical environment, social and demographical factors are also related to physical activity levels. Randomly selected 669 children (9.9±0.8 years; 48.8% boys) from randomly selected Slovenian elementary schools participated in this study. All data were obtained during a single measurement in May 2010. The standardized questionnaire The Quality of Life Survey was used to measure physical activity (PA) levels as well as social and demographic factors which could be associated with it. The results indicated higher PA levels in boys than in girls (704±286 min/week vs. 617±268 min/week; p<.001). The analysis of variance confirmed higher PA levels in girls with parents of a higher socioeconomic status (SES) (p=.0018); in boys, there were no differences in PA levels according SES (p=.580). In both the boys (p=.047) and girls (p=.021)...
While there are numerous data on the skeletal muscle fiber type composition in adults, little is ... more While there are numerous data on the skeletal muscle fiber type composition in adults, little is known about the changes in fiber type composition and contractile properties during maturational growth in children. Using noninvasive tensiomyography, we measured contraction time (Tc), an indirect estimate of the myosin heavy chain I (MHC-I) proportion, to assess the longitudinal changes of the biceps brachii (BB), biceps femois (BF), vastus lateralis (VL), and erector spinae (ES) muscles in 53 boys and 54 girls. The children were 9 years at the start of the study and returned for 5 follow-up measurements until the age of 14 years. The ES has the shortest and the BF has the longest Tc. The VL and ES of boys have shorter Tc than those of girls. When applying the relationship between proportion of MHC-I and Tc established in adults to children’s TMG data, we found a slow-to-fast transition in the VL between, at least, the ages of 6 to 10 years, when it stabilized to adult proportions. Re...
The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of the educational staff and their assessmen... more The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of the educational staff and their assessment of their competence in the field of discovering and working with gifted and talented students in sports. Forty classroom teachers and 40 physical education teachers were included in the study. We used a questionnaire designed for the purposes of this study. The results show that teachers are aware of the role and importance of discovering and working with gifted and talented students, but that they need additional professional training to avoid possible mistakes and problems they might encounter in their work. The teachers believe that their school takes the serves the area of discovering gifted and talented students (X = 3.50 (0.91); p ˂ 0.001), somewhat less the area of educational work with them (X = 3.39 (0,77); p <0.001) and for the systemic and operational regulation of the education of gifted and talented students (X = 3.35 (0.94); p = 0.001). Physical education teachers iden...
The purpose of our study was to investigate if organised physical activity of athletics increase ... more The purpose of our study was to investigate if organised physical activity of athletics increase the overal amount and intensity of physical activity during and after an athletics session. Using an accelereometer we measured weekly physical activity in 22 children (11 boys, aged 6.6 ± 1.2 years), including two hours of organised athletics. During athletics physical activity reached 1787 ± 620 (without athletics 615,5 ± 116,6) counts/minute, with most prevalent physical inactivity (29 ± 11,7 minutes) and moderate to vigorous physical activity (19,0 ± 8,9 minutes). Two weekly hours of athletics increased average daily time of moderate to vigorous physical activity (16 %; P < 0,001) and decreased the time of physical inactivity (–10 %; P < 0,001). Athletics contrbutes to achieving physical activity norms; however, more focus should be placed on increasing the intensity of physical activity during organised hours of athletics.
Biceps femoris is a major propulsor muscle in sprinting and its contraction time negatively corre... more Biceps femoris is a major propulsor muscle in sprinting and its contraction time negatively correlates to the running speeds of adults. Our aim was to compare age and gender- related correlations between vastus lateralis and biceps femoris contraction times and running speeds during a longitudinal study of 9- to 14-year old children. On a yearly basis we conducted vastus lateralis and biceps femoris tensiomyographic measurements of muscle contraction time and maximal running speeds measured during 7 meter sprints with flying starts using photocells in 107 children (53 boys). Vastus lateralis contraction time was not correlated with the running speed. However, biceps femoris contraction time was negatively correlated with the running speed only in boys after the age of 12.9 years (Pearson r ranges from -0.391 to -0.426; p < 0.002). It was concluded that biceps femoris contraction time is far less correlated with running speed than in adult athletes (Pearson r = -0.60); however, th...
Conceptualization of Talent in Sport. The purpose of this paper is to present the interdisciplina... more Conceptualization of Talent in Sport. The purpose of this paper is to present the interdisciplinary problem of giftedness and talent in the Slovene elementary school system and attempt to meaningfully interpret the terminology of both terms for the field of sport education. Despite the considerable attention paid to researching the changing understanding of giftedness in relation to talent, talent in sports environments and the applicable value of conceptualization are still not known. One reason for this is that sports talent has not been adequately defined in the Slovenian program and legislative platforms.
Namen studije je bil ugotoviti, koliko izvensolska organizirana vadba atletike pripomore k dvigu ... more Namen studije je bil ugotoviti, koliko izvensolska organizirana vadba atletike pripomore k dvigu kolicine in intenzivnosti gibalne/sportne aktivnosti otrok med samo uro atletike in izven nje. Z merilnikom pospeska smo izmerili tedensko gibalno/sportno aktivnost 22 otrok (11 deckov, starih 6,6 ± 1,2 leta), vkljucujoc dve uri organizirane vadbe atletike. Med uro atletike je skupna gibalna/sportna aktivnost 1787 ± 620 sunkov/minuto (brez atletike 615,5 ± 116,6), prevladuje gibalna neaktivnost (29 ± 11,7 minute) ter srednja in visoka intenzivna gibalna/sportna aktivnost (19,0 ± 8,9 minute). Dve uri atletike na teden povecata povprecno dnevno srednjo in visoko intenzivno gibalno/sportno aktivnost (16 %, P < 0,001) ter zmanjsata cas gibalne neaktivnosti (–10 %, P < 0,001). Atletika sicer prispeva k doseganju priporocil na podrocju gibanja, toda stremeti bi bilo treba k se vecji intenzivnosti izvedbe ur atletike.
Introduction: The purpose of this study was to establish the effective time parameters of physica... more Introduction: The purpose of this study was to establish the effective time parameters of physical education (PE) lessons and the amount of time that children spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Methods: The study involved a total of 189 third-grade pupils (94 boys and 95 girls), aged 8 to 9 years, from five primary schools in the Slovenian coastal region. We used an accelerometer in each school to measure the quantity and intensity of activity during three PE lessons led by the class teacher and / or PE teachers. Results: We found that the average duration of a PE lesson was 36.6 ± 7.7 minutes: lesson preparation time 14.9 ± 7.7 minutes, the main activity 19.3 ± 7.1 minutes and the conclusion 1.8 ± 2.4 minutes. Time spent in MVPA was 13.2 ± 4.1 minutes, with no statistical differences between genders (P = 0.338). An average PE lesson carried outdoor on the outside playground lasted an average 7 minutes less than lesson in the gym (P = 0.066) , and the average PE...
The world faces an epidemic of general physical inactivity, impeding the achievement of a suffici... more The world faces an epidemic of general physical inactivity, impeding the achievement of a sufficient level of medium- and high-intensity physical / sport activities (P / SA ). Never in human history were people less physically active than they are now, both at work and in their free time. The most problematic seem to be children and adolescents whose level of P / SA decreases and is not sufficient for maintaining health. School plays an important role in ensuring sufficient and quality P / SA . Ph ysical education is a key period during school when students can be physically active . Consequently, policy makers and moderators of strategies in the field of movement, health and sport should strive to develop the appropriate curriculum and strategies for increasing the volume, intensity and quality of P / SA during physical education. Teachers should pay particular attention, with didactic and methodical approaches, to the achievement of medium- and high-intensity of children’s P / SA.
Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the health risk of childhood obesity and associated chroni... more Regular physical activity (PA) reduces the health risk of childhood obesity and associated chronic diseases as well as mental health problems. Since PA declines as children age as well with future generations it is of highest importance to intervene in school and out-of-school settings. Out-of-school periods affect children's PA as it is mainly left to the interest and motivation of their parents. We compared accelerometer-based PA patterns in 93 6- to 9-year old children assessed four times: before (May/June), during (August), and after (September) summer holidays and at a 1-year follow up (May/June). Before summer holidays children were assessed also for anthropometry and motor tests. During summer holidays overall PA decreased by 18% (p < 0.001), physical inactivity increased by 5.5% (p < 0.001), moderate PA decreased by 53% (p < 0.001) and moderate to vigorous PA decreased by 45% (p < 0.001) when compared to before summer holidays. Furthermore, overall PA remaine...
Factors related to physical behaviour of children are important in understanding the characterist... more Factors related to physical behaviour of children are important in understanding the characteristics of their physical activity. Apart from the factors of physical environment, social and demographical factors are also related to physical activity levels. Randomly selected 669 children (9.9±0.8 years; 48.8% boys) from randomly selected Slovenian elementary schools participated in this study. All data were obtained during a single measurement in May 2010. The standardized questionnaire The Quality of Life Survey was used to measure physical activity (PA) levels as well as social and demographic factors which could be associated with it. The results indicated higher PA levels in boys than in girls (704±286 min/week vs. 617±268 min/week; p<.001). The analysis of variance confirmed higher PA levels in girls with parents of a higher socioeconomic status (SES) (p=.0018); in boys, there were no differences in PA levels according SES (p=.580). In both the boys (p=.047) and girls (p=.021)...
While there are numerous data on the skeletal muscle fiber type composition in adults, little is ... more While there are numerous data on the skeletal muscle fiber type composition in adults, little is known about the changes in fiber type composition and contractile properties during maturational growth in children. Using noninvasive tensiomyography, we measured contraction time (Tc), an indirect estimate of the myosin heavy chain I (MHC-I) proportion, to assess the longitudinal changes of the biceps brachii (BB), biceps femois (BF), vastus lateralis (VL), and erector spinae (ES) muscles in 53 boys and 54 girls. The children were 9 years at the start of the study and returned for 5 follow-up measurements until the age of 14 years. The ES has the shortest and the BF has the longest Tc. The VL and ES of boys have shorter Tc than those of girls. When applying the relationship between proportion of MHC-I and Tc established in adults to children’s TMG data, we found a slow-to-fast transition in the VL between, at least, the ages of 6 to 10 years, when it stabilized to adult proportions. Re...
The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of the educational staff and their assessmen... more The aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of the educational staff and their assessment of their competence in the field of discovering and working with gifted and talented students in sports. Forty classroom teachers and 40 physical education teachers were included in the study. We used a questionnaire designed for the purposes of this study. The results show that teachers are aware of the role and importance of discovering and working with gifted and talented students, but that they need additional professional training to avoid possible mistakes and problems they might encounter in their work. The teachers believe that their school takes the serves the area of discovering gifted and talented students (X = 3.50 (0.91); p ˂ 0.001), somewhat less the area of educational work with them (X = 3.39 (0,77); p <0.001) and for the systemic and operational regulation of the education of gifted and talented students (X = 3.35 (0.94); p = 0.001). Physical education teachers iden...
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