University students, as a result of their lifestyles, represent a section of the population that is most likely to adopt sedentary behaviours. The aim of the present study was to analyse the determining factors dictating the performance of physical activity as well as sedentary behaviour among university students. A total of 608 students (64.6% women) from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) were selected by stratified random sampling to take part in the study, which involved completing a questionnaire on lifestyle and physical activity. Of the participating students, 69.6% indicated that they performed physical activity; the main reasons given were to maintain fitness and for health, while a lack of time and laziness were the principal reasons given for abandoning or not taking up physical exercise. Significant associations were established between not doing physical activity and the time exposed to screens, time studying, feeling low and smoking; on the other hand, associations could be seen between doing physical activity and the participation of relatives (parents, mothers, partners, older siblings and friends) in physical activity, as well as a positive sense of satisfaction relating to physical education taught in schools. In conclusion, most of the university students did some physical activity, which was associated with less sedentary behaviour, while the influence of school physical education and of the habits of relatives played an important role.
This study aimed to investigate the influence of structured physical education on the psychomotor development of 3 to 5 year-old preschool children. The sample consisted of 324 students of both sexes (3 to 5 year-old) from 9 public kindergarten classes in Porto, Portugal. A battery of psychomotor tests (pre-test) was used to assess the students' psychomotor development profiles. The sample was divided in 2 groups: an experimental group (162 students) and a control group (162 students). Physical Education (PE) teachers used a structured 24-week PE plan in the experimental group. After the plan completion, the same battery of tests (post-test) was run on both groups.The outcome was that both groups grew their psychomotor profiles; however this growth was always statistically higher in the experimental group (at all ages and in all variables analysed p < 0.001-Figure 3 and Table 1, 2). There were no significant deviations related to the gender (p>0.05). Structured physical education is important for preschool children's psychomotor development. Physical activity impact on children's interaction with the outside world was proved, through their overall development motivated by the structured physical education lessons.
1 November 2016 in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine
Objective: Gamification is a non-evaluation and competition-based training methodology with high emotional involvement. The goal of this study was to evaluate gamification methodology as compared with other existing methodologies when teaching cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to secondary school students.Methods: 489 secondary school students from two high schools in Spain participated in this randomised-block quasi-experimental study in February 2018. The students were classified into different groups. Each group received CPR training with a different methodology: GAM (gamification-based training as a compulsory but non-tested academic activity to learn by playing in teams, with instructor and visual feedback); EVA (training based on subsequentevaluationas a motivational incentive, with instructor and visual feedback); VFC (visual feedback complementary, training based on a non-compulsory and non-tested academic activity, with instructor and visual feedback); TC (traditional complementary, training based on a non-compulsory and non-tested academic activity, with instructor feedback). After a week, each student performed a 2 min hands-only CPR test and quality of CPR was assessed. Visual feedback in training and CPR variables in test were provided by the QCPR Instructor App using a Little Anne manikin, both from Laerdal (Norway).Results: GAM (89.56%; 95% CI 86.71 to 92.42) methodology resulted in significantly higher scores for CPR quality than VFC and TC (81.96%; 95% CI 78.04% to 85.88% and 64.11%; 95% CI 58.23 to 69.99). GAM (61.77%; 95% CI 56.09 to 67.45) methodology also resulted in significantly higher scores for correct rate than VFC and TC (48.41%; 95% CI 41.15% to 55.67% and 17.28%; 95% CI 10.94 to 23.62). 93.4% of GAM methodology participants obtained >50 mm of compression mean depth which was a significantly higher proportion than among students in VFC and TC (78.0% and 71.9%). No differences between GAM and EVA were found. A confidence level of 95% has been assigned to all values.Conclusions: GAM methodology resulted in higher CPR quality than non-tested methods of academic training with instructor feedback or visual feedback. Gamification should be considered as an alternative teaching method for Basic Life Support (BLS) in younger individuals.
1 March 2013 in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine