Comparison of physical fitness and mental health status among school-age children with different sport-specific training frequencies

Abstract

This cross-sectional study compared the physical fitness and mental health status of 140 school-age children who participated in sport-specific training with 180 age-matched peers. All the participants were grouped by sport-specific training frequencies in extracurricular time into the following: (i) high sports training frequency group (HFG): training three to five times per week (n = 77, mean [SD] age: 9.60 [0.12] years); (ii) low sports training frequency group (LFG): training once per week (n = 63, mean [SD] age: 9.88 [0.14] years); and (iii) control group (CG): maintaining routine life (n = 180, mean (SD) age: 9.77(0.09) years). Physical fitness status, including body composition (body mass index), endurance (vital capacity; 50 × 8 round trip), speed and agility (50 m sprint), flexibility (sit-and-reach), coordination (1-min rope skipping), and core strength (1-min sit-ups) as well as mental health status was measured. Overall, the results showed that Grade 3 to 4 HFG students showed better total physical fitness scores than the LFG and CG students. Grade 2 and 5 participants in the three groups showed no significant difference in the total physical fitness score. Children in HFG performed better in several PF indicators (i.e., cardiopulmonary function, flexibility, core strength, and coordination) than those in LFG and CG, and children in LFG got a higher score than those in CG on a testing item of 1-min rope skipping. The mental health test results showed that HFG performed better than LFG and CG. The results indicated that participating in sport-specific training 3–5 times per week was beneficial for children’s physical and mental health. Additionally, there was a weak and negative correlation between physical fitness and mental health in LFG and CG, while no correlation was found between physical fitness and mental health in HFG.

Mental Health and their relationship with physical activity and emotional regulation strategies in Spanish adolescents

“…Research on the effect of Physical Activity (PA) on the mental health of children and adolescents has received much less attention than that conducted with adults (Bailey, Howells & Glibo, 2018;Jiang et al, 2021). However, the practice of physical exercise undeniably benefits mental health, emotional well-being and quality of life, regardless of gender (Deslandes et al, 2009;Ahn & Fedewa, 2011;De la Cruz-Sánchez et al, 2011;Bernstein & McNally, 2018;Korge & Nunan, 2018;Ogawa et al, 2019).…”

Is Football or Badminton Associated With More Positive Affect? The Links Between Affects and Sports Club Membership Among French Adolescents

“…Costigan et al (2019) found that only vigorous physical activity was associated with wellbeing among adolescents. Besides intensity, two-related aspects can also have positive consequences: higher frequency of practice (Hassmén et al, 2000;Jiang et al, 2021) and the higher volume of physical activity (Sagatun et al, 2007;Bell et al, 2019) both lead to better affective benefits. 2…”

“…We have to mention that it is not only related to organized sports, but also any sort of physical activities.2 Hassmén et al (2000) found that practicing regular physical activity (two to three times a week) decreased negative affect (depression, anger, and stress) but also increased wellbeing compared to practicing less frequently. Moreover, in a recent study,Jiang et al (2021) found that children and adolescents who practiced training sessions three to five times per week have a better mental health compared to those who practice only once a week. A strongly-related element to take into account to impact the adolescents' affect is the volume of physical activity(Sagatun et al, 2007;Bell et al, 2019).…”

Using physical education lessons to develop the autonomy of primary school children

“…Currently, researchers from many countries are directing their efforts to solving the problem of physical, mental and spiritual-moral improvement of schoolchildren (Burns et al, 2018;Pozuelo-Carrascosa et al, 2018;Beni et al, 2019;García-Hermoso et al, 2020;Gómez-Álvarez et al, 2021). The results of previous studies indicate negative trends in the physical fitness of schoolchildren (Núñez-Quiroga et al, 2018;Fu et al, 2019;Masanovic et al, 2020;Fühner et al, 2021;Oñate Navarrete et al, 2021;Jiang et al, 2021); unwillingness of the majority of schoolchildren to engage in physical culture and sports on a systematic basis (Rodriguez-Ayllon et al, 2019;Goh et al, 2019;Andermo et al, 2020). For example, Guthold et al, 2020 Great attention in the context of our research was paid to works where the role of general developing exercises in primary school is investigated (Taylor et al, 2018;Watson et al, 2019;Cañas Encinas et al, 2021); theoretical views on the use of means for physical education in educationaleducative activities (Chanal et al, 2019;Ledezma, 2019;Quennerstedt, 2019;Masini et al, 2020;Gómez-Álvarez et al, 2021;Thorjussen, 2021;Wassenaar et al, 2021).…”