Intensity of Physical Education lessons in children according to the type of activity: soccer, badminton, aerobics and motor skills.

Abstract

Introduction: Due to the increase of childhood obesity, Physical Education becomes the best tool to combat overweight. Furthermore, the type of content may affect the intensity of the lessons. Objectives: To check the effect of different activities —soccer, badminton, aerobics and motor skills— on the intensity of Physical Education lessons. Method: Non-experimental descriptive-comparative design. The average heart rate of 20 children from the Region of Murcia (Spain) (11 boys and 9 girls), aged between 10 and 12 years, was assessed during 8 different Physical Education lessons. Results: The Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity percentage and the time spent in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity are significantly higher (p=0.020) for motor skills (40.80±18.69 % MVPA; 12.37±5.66 min) and soccer (37.77±13.77 % MVPA; 11.44±4.17 min) in comparison to aerobics and badminton. Girls attained higher Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity percentage and time spent in Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity than boys (p=0.034). Conclusions: Although results show that intensity and duration of the analyzed lessons do not comply with the recommendations to improve the cardiovascular exercise, the highest heart rate values were observed in lessons with soccer and motor skills as main activity.