Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Primary Education Pupils

the Association with Anthropometric Characteristics

  • Matea Gašparović University of Rijeka, Faculty od Teacher Education
  • Vilko Petrić University of Rijeka, Faculty od Teacher Education, Chair of Methods of Teaching Scinece in Natural Sciences and Social Sciences
  • Vesna Štemberger University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary Teacher Education
  • Marija Rakovac University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology, Institute for Kinesiological Anthropology and Methodology
  • Iva Blažević Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Faculty of Educational Science, Department of Teacher Education
Keywords: health, primary school, maximal oxygen uptake, body height, body weight

Abstract

The goal of this research was to determine cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) among primary school male and female pupils and its association with their anthropometric characteristics. The sample consisted of 112 boys and 136 girls, primary school pupils, aged 7 to 10. The Eurofit test battery was used to evaluate anthropometric characteristics (body height, body mass, body mass index (BMI)) and CRF (Beep test to estimate maximal oxygen uptake). The results indicate stagnation in the CRF with chronological age, in both sexes. A statistically significant association (p = 0.001) was shown for all CRF variables and  anthropometric variables except for body height, which was not significantly associated with CRF. An increase in body mass and BMI was associated with a significant (p = 0.001) decrease in male and female pupils' CRF.

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Author Biographies

Matea Gašparović, University of Rijeka, Faculty od Teacher Education

Student, Rijeka, Croatia. E-mail: matea3108gasparovic@gmail.com.

Vilko Petrić, University of Rijeka, Faculty od Teacher Education, Chair of Methods of Teaching Scinece in Natural Sciences and Social Sciences

Rijeka, Croatia. E-mail: vilko.petric@uniri.hr.

Vesna Štemberger, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education, Department of Primary Teacher Education

Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: vesna.stemberger@pef.uni-lj.si.

Marija Rakovac, University of Zagreb, Faculty of Kinesiology, Institute for Kinesiological Anthropology and Methodology

Zagreb, Croatia. E-mail: marija.rakovac@kif.hr.

Iva Blažević, Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Faculty of Educational Science, Department of Teacher Education

Pula, Croatia. E-mail: iblazevic@unipu.hr.

Published
2017-12-01
How to Cite
Gašparović M., Petrić V., Štemberger V., Rakovac M., & Blažević I. (2017). Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Primary Education Pupils. Journal of Elementary Education, 10(4), 417-426. Retrieved from https://journals.um.si/index.php/education/article/view/308
Section
Scientific Articles