Physical Activity of Warsaw's Six Year Old Children and Its Correlation with Physical Fitness

Introduction. Physical activity and physical fitness are among the positive measures of health. Their assessment is justified from the point of view of prevention of many civilization diseases. The aim of this paper is to describe the physical activity of six year old children in Warsaw and to determine its relationship to physical fitness. Material and methods. The study was conducted in two series – in the spring of 2011 and 2012. Data were collected for 742 children from selected pre-school institutions in Warsaw. The average age of the children born in 2005 (2011 edition) and 2006 (2012 edition) was 5.84 ± 0.31 years. The numbers in both categories were equal, and amounted to 371 girls and boys. The choice of educational institutions was such, as to ensure that the sample was representative. In order to assess the children's physical activity, the method of diagnostic survey was used (questionnaire). The questionnaire addressed to the parents included questions about the participation of their children in pre-school, extracurricular and family forms of physical activity and the amount of time spent on passive leisure activities. To evaluate the physical fitness we used a test consisting of five motor trials (bend while sitting down, sit up from the lying position 30 s, long jump from stationary position, run 10x5 m, 1 kg medicine ball throw forward). Mathematical analysis of the material utilised selected methods of descriptive statis2 tics (including cluster analysis), standardization of data and the test. Results. In the both gender subgroups three clusters were formed, corresponding to the above-average, average, and reduced physical fitness. Parents of children with the highest level of motor skills often declared significant participation of their children in family and extracurricular forms of physical activity and less time spent in front of TV or computer. Conclusions. In the population of six year old children in Warsaw positive relationship were found between the claimed physical activity and physical fitness.