Assessment of the body posture of junior high school students in the context of their physical activity

Abstract

Introduction. Posture defects constitute a social problem and can cause negative changes in many aspects of our lives – in both physical and mental health. Prophylaxis and an appropriate degree of physical activity, which affects harmonious development, are very important here. Objective. The objective of the study was to assess the body posture of junior high school students and to determine the degree of their physical activity, and then to check whether there is a correlation between them. The study group consisted of 53 people from a junior high school in Wrocław, aged 14 to 17. Material and methods. To assess physical activity, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was used, which contains 7 questions regarding activity in the last 7 days. Body posture in the sagittal plane was examined using photogrammetry, and typology classification was based on Wolański’s method modified according to Zeyland-Malawka. Results. The results of the study were subjected to a statistical analysis, which shows that the studied group of adolescents is mostly characterized by a kyphotic type of body posture, while the least common is the balanced type. The level of physical activity of the study group can be described as sufficient, but it is worth noting that only 6% of the respondents are characterized by an insufficient level of physical activity, and only 7.5% are characterized by a high level of physical activity. Conclusions. In further analyses, it was examined whether there is a correlation between body posture and physical activity. It was found that there are no statistically significant differences between these two features in the study group.