The Effect of IAAF Kids’ Athletics Program on Some Physical Fitness Tests in Elementary School Students

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 14 weeks IAAF Kids’ Athletics program on some physical fitness tests of middle school students. A total of 243 children participated to the study. Subjects were divided randomly into two groups including an experimental group (n: 95, 52 boys, 43 girls, age 10,92 ± 0,61 years; height 144,74 ± 6,32 cm; weight 39,39 ± 9,64 kg) and a control group (n: 148, 73 boys, 75 girls; age 10,90 ± 0,63 years; height 144,33 ± 7,08 cm; weight 40,40 ± 10,13 kg). Physical fitness pre-test and post-test values were measured before and after the 14-week program. Experimental group performed IAAF Kids’ Athletics program 3 sessions (each session 60 min.) per week for 14 weeks. Control group did not participate in any physical activity except the physical education lesson which is designed according to the middle school curriculum. All physical fitness tests were performed according to Eurofit physical fitness test battery. Physical fitness measurements were taken for flamingo balance test, plate tapping, sit and reach, standing long jump, hand grip strength, sit up, shuttle run 10x5m, medicine ball throwing, 20m sprint, shuttle run test. Paired Sample t-test and Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was utilized to determine the changes between the pre-test and post-test measurements. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare the differences between experimental and control group. The level of significance was set at p=0.05. Results of our study have shown that IAAF Kids athletics program has significant effects on physical fitness measurements in middle school students. It can be concluded that besides practicing of traditional physical education programs, IAAF Kids athletics program, which is included in Sport and Physical Activities lesson, can benefit children physical development