- 著者
-
青山 翔
- 出版者
- 一般社団法人 日本学校保健学会
- 雑誌
- 学校保健研究 (ISSN:03869598)
- 巻号頁・発行日
- vol.64, no.4, pp.322-330, 2023-01-20 (Released:2023-01-31)
- 参考文献数
- 31
Background: Physical fitness in elementary school children may decline due to a decrease in exercise opportunities effectuated by school closures and restrictions on the use of playgrounds, which were intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, few studies have clarified the actual condition of the physical fitness of children who have experienced school closures and restrictions on the use of playgrounds after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic by comparing the results of the physical fitness tests of children conducted before and after the onset of the pandemic. Objective: This study aimed to determine the difference in physical fitness in elementary school children who did (the school closures and playground use restrictions group) and did not (the control group) experience school closures and playground use restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Overall, 50 and 38 fifth-grade elementary school children were selected for the school closures and playground use restrictions group and the control group, respectively. Physical fitness tests were conducted for the former group while in the third grade (pre) in June 2019 and in the fifth grade (post) in June 2021, and in (pre) June 2017 and in (post) June 2019 for the latter group. For the measurement items, we performed a variance analysis of the groups (the school closures and playground use restrictions group and the control group)×the time (pre and post) by genders. Results: The results showed that the interaction of the 20m shuttle run for boys was significant(F(1, 86)=8.95, p<.01). The simple main effect test demonstrated no significant difference in the results between the school closure and playground use restrictions group (M=41.0, SD=13.9) and the control group (M=46.6, SD=17.2) during the pre phase. However, in the post phase, the results for the school closure and playground use restriction group (M=40.7, SD=15.7) were significantly lower (p<.01) than those of the control group (M=57.0, SD=19.9). Additionally, although the results in the post phase (M=57.0, SD=19.9) were significantly higher (p<.001) than in the pre phase (M=46.6, SD=17.2) for the control group, there was no significant difference in the pre (M=41.0, SD=13.9) and post (M=40.7, SD=15.7) phases in the school closures and playground use restrictions group. Conclusion: This study revealed that the aerobic capacity of boys who experienced the school closures and playground use restrictions after the COVID-19 pandemic was significantly lower than the result of boys who did not experienced the school closures and playground use restrictions.