CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS IN INACTIVE CHILDREN OF UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GRADES

Abstract

Considering that inactivity leads to a decrease in functional abilities and has numerous harmful consequences for the mental and physical health of students, the aim of this study was to explore the impact of physical education on the cardiorespiratory fitness of students in grades 5 to 8. One group of participants included 25 inactive students (15F/10M) from the fifth and sixth grades, while the other group included 25 inactive students (15F/10M) from the seventh and eighth grades. Initial measurements of cardiorespiratory fitness using the Bip test for inactive students were conducted in the second week of physical and health education classes in early September, while the final measurements were taken after 4 months, at the end of the first semester. Wilcoxon Signed Rank test was used for repeated measurements within each group, comparing initial and final outcomes. Differences between groups were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness were achieved in the group of fifth and sixth-grade students in the final assessment compared to the initial one. The same cannot be claimed for the group of seventh and eighth-grade students. When comparing the two groups of students, this research indicates significant improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness in the fifth and sixth-grade group compared to the seventh and eighth-grade group. It is necessary to introduce more hours of physical and health education in schools and involve more students in extracurricular sports activities.