Phisical Activity

O Relatório Nacional de Desenvolvimento Humano 2017, nomeado Movimento é vida: atividades físicas e esportivas para todas as pessoas, é uma publicação tradicional do Programa das Nações Unidas para o Desenvolvimento que, nesta edição, traça as relações entre desenvolvimento humano e atividades físicas e esportivas.

Although the neuronal mechanisms of action and cognition are related, the division of intellectual and physical lessons is standard in schools. This is surprising, because numerous studies show that integrating physical education (PE) with teaching content stimulates critical skills. For example, several experiments indicate that Eduball-based PE (i.e., lessons in a sports hall during which students play team mini-games with educational balls with printed letters, numbers, and other signs) develops mathematical and language competencies. At the same time, the Eduball method does not slow down learners’ physical development. However, we have little knowledge about the effects of such techniques on non-native language learning. Consequently, the absence of incorporating core academic subjects into PE in dual-language schools or during foreign language education is exceptionally high. Here, we replicated the Eduball experiment, but with the goal of testing this method for non-native language learning. Thus, the intervention occurred in a dual-language primary school and we evaluated second language (L2) learning. As before, we used the technique of parallel groups (experimental and control); in both groups, there were three 45-min PE classes per week. In the experimental class, two of them were held using Eduball. After a half-year experiment, children from the experimental group (one second-grade, N = 14) improved their non-native language skills significantly more than their peers from the control group (one second-grade, N = 12). These findings demonstrate that Eduball-type intervention stimulates non-native language learning in children. Hence, our report suggests that specific body training forms can support L2 learning.

Studies suggest that incorporating core academic subjects into physical education (PE) stimulates the development of both motor and cognitive skills in primary school students. For example, several experiments show that children’s participation in Eduball, i.e., a method that uses educational balls with printed letters, numbers, and other signs, improves their physical fitness while simultaneously developing their mathematical and language skills. However, the question of who should conduct such classes to make them most effective (regular classroom teachers, physical education teachers, or maybe both in cooperation?) remains unanswered. Here, we replicated a previous Eduball experiment, but now, instead of one experimental group, there were three. In the first, Eduball-classes were conducted by the classroom teacher, in the second, by the physical education teacher, and in the third, collaboratively. After one year intervention, all experimental groups significantly improved both their cognitive (mathematical, reading, and writing) and gross motor (locomotor and object control) skills, and these effects were larger than in the control group participating in traditional PE. Importantly, there were no differences in progression between the Eduball-groups. Thus, our study demonstrates that methods linking PE with cognitive tasks can be effectively used by both PE specialists and general classroom teachers.

Introdução: o crescimento, maturação e desenvolvimento estão directamente relacionados ao óptimo estado nutricional. Crianças malnutridas podem ter o crescimento comprometido e menor desenvolvimento intelectual, para além de agregar factores importantes para morbimortalidade. Objectivo: averiguar a associação entre o crescimento somático e o estado nutricional em crianças de ambos sexos. Metodologia: foram aferidas, transversalmente, medidas antropométricas referentes ao crescimento somático e estado nutricional, de acordo com a padronização descrita por Lohman (1988). 386 crianças do Distrito de Moamba foram seleccionadas aleatoriamente, em Junho de 2018, das quais 203 raparigas e 183 rapazes de 6 a 10 anos. Estatística descritiva foi usada para descrever os principais indicadores, para além de se testar hipóteses de associação a um nível de significância de 5%. Os dados foram analisados no SPSS 22.0. Resultados: no geral, os dados indicam que os rapazes apresentam valores médios de peso, altura e Índice de Massa Corporal (IMC) ligeiramente acima dos indivíduos do sexo feminino (peso 24,3±5,54 e 23,6±4,79; altura 1,25±0,09 e 1,24±0,08 e IMC 15,4±1,63 e 15,20±1,61), todos indicadores mostraram semelhanças entre os sexos. De outro lado, foi evidente o efeito da idade sobre todos os indicadores, porém o sexo só tem influência sobre os indicadores do crescimento somático. Foram classificados indivíduos abaixo do percentil 3, sobretudo aqueles com 6 anos de idade. A correlação entre o crescimento e o estado nutricional mostrou-se forte (altura: r2 = 0.836; p <0.001), moderada (peso: r2 = 0.753; p <0.001) e fraca (IMC: r2 = 0.403; p <0.001), porém significativa. Conclusões: os rapazes são mais altos e pesados que as meninas, porém há indivíduos abaixo do percentil 3 e entre este e o percentil 50, clamando por intervenções atempadas.

Palavras – Chave: Estado Nutricional; Crescimento Somático, Crianças, Antropometria, Distrito de Moamba

The popularity of physical education lessons has already been demonstrated my many (Hamar 2008, Neulinger 2009), however, it has also been revealed that this popularity, as well as the frequency of doing sports, tends to decrease at later ages of life (Perényi 2014). Introducing PE as an everyday lesson at schools was a milestone in physical education. Provided the aims are realised successfully, the general state of health of students can show a favourable change (Mikulán 2013).
The aim of our research, on the one hand, is to reveal how important physical education is as contrasted with other school subjects, according to those students asked. On the other hand, we aim to examine how the certain positive and negative attitudes of the subjects of our study appear in the resulting figures.