Can Physical Activity Moderate the Relationship between School Related Stress and Health Complaints among Japanese Elementary School Children

Abstract

This study examined whether subjective health complaints were associated with school-related stress and physical activity among Japanese 6th grade school children and determined the infl uence of physical activity on the relationship between school-related stress and health complaints. In addition, other health practices were examined as moderators of the association between stress and health complaints. A self-administered questionnaire was conducted for 1,978 pupils at 25 public elementary schools throughout Okinawa, Japan. As a result of two-way analysis of variance, school-related stress showed a signifi cant main effect on health complaints among both boys and girls. However, physical activity did not show a main effect on health complaints among either boys or girls. There was also no observed interaction between school-related stress and physical activity on health complaints. Other health practices had signifi cant main effects on health complaints in this age group. Pupils who slept for 7-8 hours, ate breakfast everyday, watched TV for less than 4 hours a day, or played video games for less than 4 hours a week were less likely to report health complaints. However, there was no observed interaction between school-related stress and each health practice on health complaints. This study suggests that physical activity in this age group has no direct or buffering effects on health outcomes.

Association between physical activity duration and depressive symptoms in adolescents: A longitudinal study in a rural city in Japan

“…Therefore, the actual amount of physical activity might have been underestimated. Although the Health Behavior in School-aged Children Study (HBSC) questionnaire, which was used as a reference in the development of the questionnaire for this study, was confirmed to be valid and reliable [19,34,35], it overestimated moderate-to-vigorous physical activity compared with an accelerometer and reported sexual differences in the accuracy of responses [35]. These factors may have influenced the result in the subanalysis.…”