Effects of a School Physical Activity Intervention in Pre-adolescents

The objective of this study is to examine the possible effects of a daily physical activity intervention on physical fitness, coordination and attention. The program lasts 12 weeks and its participants were 89 sixth grade elementary school students from two bilingual state schools in the Autonomous Community of Madrid; 45 of these students were in the intervention group and 44 were selected as control students. Cardiorespiratory capacity was assessed using the 1 km test, lower-limb muscle strength was checked with the standing long jump test, and coordination was determined by lateral jumping. Attention capacity was examined with the Perception of Differences Test. After the paired t-test, significant differences betweenpre- and post-groups were obtained in cardiorespiratory capacity (min), coordination (number of jumps),height (m), and attention levels (number of rights choices and efficacy). In conclusion, primary school interventions, like the one performed in this study, may offer a positive influence to improve all of the aforementioned aspects. According to these research results and to other researchers in this line of investigation, it is suggested that physical activity be included in the planning of academic subjects as well as physical activity breaks throughout the day that support Physical Education lessons. El objetivo de este estudio consistió en analizar los posibles efectos que la implementación de actividad física diaria puede tener a nivel coordinativo, de condición física y atencional. El programa duró 12 semanas y participaron 89 alumnos y alumnas de sexto curso de primaria de dos centros públicos bilingües de la Comunidad de Madrid, 45 escolares incluidos en el grupo de intervención con respecto a 44 estudiantes de la misma edad seleccionados como grupo de control. La capacidad cardiorrespiratoria fue valorada con el test de 1 kilómetro, la fuerza explosiva en miembros inferiores con el test de salto horizontal a pies juntos y la coordinación motora con el test de saltos laterales con pies juntos. La atención fue examinada con el Test de Percepción de diferencias revisado, llamado Caras. Tras un análisis pre y post intervención, se obtuvieron diferencias significativas entre ambos grupos en las variables de capacidad cardiorrespiratoria (min), coordinación (nº de saltos) y fatiga atencional tanto en el número de aciertos como en la eficacia (diferencia entre aciertos y errores), todas ellas favorables al grupo experimental. En conclus