Prevalence and relation between physical activity level and cardiorespiratory fitness in early school age children

Sa？etak Aim: To assess the prevalence of physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness and to determine their relationship in early school age children. Methods: The study was conducted on a sample of 78 second and fourth grade pupils. Level of physical activity was assessed by PAQ-C questionnaire, while cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by 3 minute run fitness test (F3). Basic descriptive indicators were calculated. The relationship between physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by Spearman correlation coefficient. Regression analysis was applied to determine the impact of physical activity on the cardiorespiratory fitness. Results: 32.05% boys and 25.64% girls have an adequate level of PA. The results of regression analysis have shown a significant functional relationship of F3 test with PA during the break (β = 0.25), PA by days (β = 0.27) and the total level of PA (β = 0.29). Conclusion: Adequate level of PA contributes to the increase of cardiorespiratory fitness. It is advisable to implement various kinesiological contents and to encourage children to engage in curricular and extra-curricular kinesiological activities