A survey into basic school pupils´ lifestyle

The article studies key areas of lifestyle by basic school pupils of adolescent age. The study questioned 204 basic and grammar schools pupils through an anonymous questionnaire consisting of 15 questions with close-ended answers. Out of the sample of respondents 89 were students of schools with expanded physical education curricula and 115 were studens of schools with regular curricula. The aim of the study was to discover whether an appropriately applied physical activity helps to an appropriate nutritional and physical behaviour and whether it minimalises the addictional behaviour occurence by the pupils. The data were statistically analysed (EpiInfo v. 6, Statistica v. 7cz). Pupils of schools with expanded curricula showed better nutritional and physical behaviours and less smoking or drinking alcohol. From a total amount of 15 questions a statistically significant difference (p<0,05 and better) ocurred at 8 questions. When nutrition being investigated the differences ocurred by 2 out of 5 questions, in case of physical acitvities it was 4 out of 5 questions and by pathological addictions it showed by 2 out 5 questions. The statistically significant differences in our sample refer to pupils from schools with expanded curriculum as to those who, compared to pupils from regular basic schools, eat a daily food divided into more portions (p<0,05, x2), care more for their appropriate drinking and drink a bigger amount of liquid per day (p<0,001, x2), spend more of their school and leisure time by physical activities (both p<0,001, x2), and are more often nonsmokers and non alcohol drinkers (both p<0,001, x2). As a result we could claim that a process of preventing an apropriate lifestyle from negative factors may be significantly empowered by an exitence of expanded physical education curriculum. Increasing an amount of physical activities within regular basic schools curricula both the children´s health and their addiction resistance may be positively enhanced. It would be very interesting to have the hereby outcomes provided with further verifications and a more complex research with bigger samples. This survey is a part of a research plan of the Faculty of Education Masaryk University for the period 2005-2010 „School and Health for the 21st century“, identification number MSM0021622421, lead by doc. PhDr. Evžen Rehulka, CSc.

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