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JOURNAL
OF
SPORTS SCIENCE &
MEDICINE
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Research
article
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INTERVENTION FOR SPANISH OVERWEIGHT TEENAGERS IN PHYSICAL EDUCATION LESSONS |
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Emilio J. Martínez-López1  ,
Alberto Grao-Cruces2, José E. Moral-García3 and Antonio
Pantoja-Vallejo4 |
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1Research group HUM653 Laboratory, Department of Didactic of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression. University of Jaén, Spain, 2Department of Sport and Computer Science, University of Pablo Olavide, Seville, Spain, 3Physical activity and Sport Faculty, University of Salamanca, Spain, 4Department of Pedagogy, Research Group HUM 660 laboratory, University of Jaén, Spain. |
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© Journal of Sports Science and Medicine (2012) 11, 312 - 321 |
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| ABSTRACT | |||
| Physical education is a favourable educational framework for the
development of programmes aimed at increasing physical activity in children
and thus reducing sedentarism. The progressive increase of overweight students
demands global control and follow-up measurement of these behaviours in
both in and out of school. The pedometer can be a useful tool in this field.
It is easy to use and allow Physical Education (PE) departments to quantify
their students' number of steps/day. The aim of this study was to determine
the effect of a pedometer intervention on body fat and BMI levels in overweight
teenagers. Besides, the effects of the programme are analysed according
to two other variables: pedometer ownership and gender, distinguishing between
out-of-school and school hours, weekdays and weekends. The sample comprises
112 overweight students (49 boys and 63 girls) from 5 secondary schools.
Participants were asked to follow a physical activity programme consisting
on a minimum of 12000 and 10000 steps/day for boys and girls, respectively.
It also allowed them to get up to 2 extra points in their PE marks. Results
were measured after 6 weeks of programme application as well as after 6
weeks of retention. Results revealed significantly reduced BMI in the teenagers
with their own pedometer (p < 0.05). The difference observed in the number
of steps/day between boys (12050) and girls (9566) was significant in all
measured time periods (p < 0.05). Besides, both overweight boys and girls
were observed to take 1000 steps/day less at weekends than in weekdays.
Therefore, it is concluded that the proposal of 12000 and 10000 steps for
overweight boys and girls, respectively, accompanied by a reinforcement
programme in their final PE marks, seems sufficient to obtain significant
BMI reductions. Besides, PE is shown a favourable framework for the proposal
of pedometer-impelled weight loss programmes in overweight youth. Key words: Pedometer, overweight, school physical education, body mass index, body fat. |
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