Effects of Volleyball Intervention on Health-related Fitness in Primary School Students

University of Nis88 enrolled

Overview

The goal of this study is to find out if doing a 16-week volleyball program integrated in physical education classes at school can make primary school students stronger, faster, and have better endurance. The study also wants to see whether the program can lead to changes in the students' body weight, body fat, and muscle mass.

Eighty-eight healthy primary school students (mean age 13.3 years) were randomized to a TGfU volleyball intervention group (VG) or a control group (CG). CG participants attended three regular physical education (PE) classes per week, while VG participants attended two regular PE classes and a TGfU volleyball intervention that was implemented in the third PE class. The main part of each volleyball intervention session was based on the "Teaching Games for Understanding" (TGfU) model. This approach emphasizes the development of fundamental skills and tactical understanding of the game by utilizing modified games, such as small-sided games and mini-volleyball. By using this method, participants are able to increase their interaction with the ball and engage in moderate-to-vigorous gameplay intensity more frequently. The primary study outcomes were assessed before and after the 16-week intervention for both VG and CG participants. The main hypothesis is that implementation of the TGfU volleyball intervention in the physical education curriculum will lead to greater improvement in body composition and physical fitness outcomes among seventh-grade primary school students compared to those who receive traditional physical education classes, demonstrating that this intervention can be an effective method for reducing adiposity and promoting physical fitness levels among adolescents.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Physical Inactivity Adolescent Obesity Physical Fitness Body Composition Healthy Lifestyle Exercise

Interventions

TGfU volleyball interventionOTHER

Duration of intervention: 16 week; Duration of each session: 45 minutes; Frequency: One session per week during the third PE class; The structure of each TGfU session had three parts: The introduction part comprised 10 minutes of moderate-intensity warm-up activities; The main part comprised mini-volleyball and small-sided games (25-30 minutes); The last part of the session was the cool-down period (5 min).

Regular physical education classesOTHER

Regular physical education classes following national physical education curriculum for second semester of seventh grade in primary school in Serbia.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 12 YearsMax age: 14 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * seventh grade primary school students * were not exempt from participating in physical education classes * did not have any health conditions (pediatric disease, orthopedic conditions, injuries, respiratory or cardiovascular disease) * voluntary participation * obtained informed consent from parents or legal guardians Exclusion Criteria: * exempted from participating in physical education classes * currently participating in other interventions * the presence of acute or chronic infectious disease * the presence of injury * not able to attend all intervention sessions * not obtaining informed consent from parents or legal guardians * do not want to participate voluntary

Locations (1)

Primary School "Dušan Radović"

Niš, Serbia

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in Cardiorespiratory Fitness

Cardiorespiratory fitness is considered one of the most powerful health-related markers in adolescents. In this study, cardiorespiratory fitness is assessed using the 20-m shuttle-run test, which was adopted from the Eurofit test battery. Scoring is obtained as VO2max values (mL/kg/min).