Physical Activity Levels of Finnish School-Aged Children
Gomez Dominguez, Lia (2022)
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022020217416
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2022020217416
Tiivistelmä
Aim: The main aim of this study was to understand the levels of physical activity among Finnish school-aged children (4th to 6th graders) during a school week. Other aims of the study were to analyse which are the most common sports among Finnish school-aged children and if there are any gender differences as well as to understand whether the amount of physical activity is sufficient in order for them to carry out a healthy lifestyle and to try to detect the main obstacles that prevent the children from having a more active lifestyle.
Method: The participants of the study were a total of 236 school-aged children between 10 and 13 years old. Among the sample, 125 participants were males, 107 were females, and four identified as “other”. Five different schools around the region of Ostrobothnia in Finland participated in the research: School A (91 participants), School B (71 participants), School C (33 participants), School D (23 participants) and School E (18 participants). The data collection instrument used was the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) by Kowalski et al. (2004) with a slight adaptation of the annexation of one more gender option (male/female + other). The questionnaire was translated into the students’ mother tongues (Swedish and Finnish). The data analysis of the quantitative data was executed with SPSS (version 26) and it was inductively coded, categorised and analysed (content analysis) with the qualitative data analysis software of NVivo.
Results: The descriptive statistics showed that the general mean activity score for the sample was 2.9 according to the PAQ-C scoring (5 points scale); more specifically, the mean activity score for males was 2.95 (n = 125) and 2.92 (n = 107) for females. The activity levels during physical education lessons were high (M = 4.35), during recess time, a 50.8% of the sample did not engage with any kind of physical activity and a large part of the sample (>40% of the sample) affirmed that they do not engage in sufficient physical activity during the school day. The most habitual time of the day for practising sports was during the evenings (n = 236, M = 2.99, σ = 1.22). Students affirmed that during their free time, they practised sports around two or three times during a normal week (n = 236, M = 2.90, σ = 1.17), the least active days were Friday and Monday and the most active days Wednesday and Sunday. Regarding sport choice, it was clear that the most practised sport is cycling. A total of 75 .80% of the sample carried out their regular physical activity, however, something hindered the other students to practise their normal levels of physical activity. No correlations between genders were found, nonetheless, a positive significant correlation between age (r (235) = 0.22, p = 0.00) and physical activity was found.
Conclusions: It is widely demonstrated that regular physical activity has health- related short-term and long-term benefits. Evidence from this study showed that the physical activity levels of Finnish school-aged children (10-13-year-olds) are insufficient; therefore, measures to counteract this situation are needed. However, it was also demonstrated that external motivation among Finnish teachers and Finnish institutions (through programmes such as On the Move) is ample; nevertheless, since students have negative and apathetical attitudes towards physical activity, the fundamental challenge from now on is to grow intrinsic motivation in the students. Last, it is important to highlight that this paper has given account for the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the pupils’ levels of physical activity.
Method: The participants of the study were a total of 236 school-aged children between 10 and 13 years old. Among the sample, 125 participants were males, 107 were females, and four identified as “other”. Five different schools around the region of Ostrobothnia in Finland participated in the research: School A (91 participants), School B (71 participants), School C (33 participants), School D (23 participants) and School E (18 participants). The data collection instrument used was the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) by Kowalski et al. (2004) with a slight adaptation of the annexation of one more gender option (male/female + other). The questionnaire was translated into the students’ mother tongues (Swedish and Finnish). The data analysis of the quantitative data was executed with SPSS (version 26) and it was inductively coded, categorised and analysed (content analysis) with the qualitative data analysis software of NVivo.
Results: The descriptive statistics showed that the general mean activity score for the sample was 2.9 according to the PAQ-C scoring (5 points scale); more specifically, the mean activity score for males was 2.95 (n = 125) and 2.92 (n = 107) for females. The activity levels during physical education lessons were high (M = 4.35), during recess time, a 50.8% of the sample did not engage with any kind of physical activity and a large part of the sample (>40% of the sample) affirmed that they do not engage in sufficient physical activity during the school day. The most habitual time of the day for practising sports was during the evenings (n = 236, M = 2.99, σ = 1.22). Students affirmed that during their free time, they practised sports around two or three times during a normal week (n = 236, M = 2.90, σ = 1.17), the least active days were Friday and Monday and the most active days Wednesday and Sunday. Regarding sport choice, it was clear that the most practised sport is cycling. A total of 75 .80% of the sample carried out their regular physical activity, however, something hindered the other students to practise their normal levels of physical activity. No correlations between genders were found, nonetheless, a positive significant correlation between age (r (235) = 0.22, p = 0.00) and physical activity was found.
Conclusions: It is widely demonstrated that regular physical activity has health- related short-term and long-term benefits. Evidence from this study showed that the physical activity levels of Finnish school-aged children (10-13-year-olds) are insufficient; therefore, measures to counteract this situation are needed. However, it was also demonstrated that external motivation among Finnish teachers and Finnish institutions (through programmes such as On the Move) is ample; nevertheless, since students have negative and apathetical attitudes towards physical activity, the fundamental challenge from now on is to grow intrinsic motivation in the students. Last, it is important to highlight that this paper has given account for the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the pupils’ levels of physical activity.
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