Impact Of Situational Games Intervention On Fitness Outcomes Among 6-7 Years Old Chinese Children

PURPOSE: To examine the impact of a 10-week situational games intervention on aerobic fitness, muscular strength and speed among 6-7 years old Chinese children. METHODS: A total of 128 6-7 years old Chinese children were randomly divided into intervention group (IG; 31 boys, 30 girls) and control group (CG; 31 boys, 36 girls). The IG received ten-week situational games (SG) lessons (35 mins per lesson, twice a week), including acting as a main character in the movie ‘zootopia’, offending and defending in ball games, and exploring in the forest, while CG took conventional PE lessons (35 mins per lesson, twice a week). Participants took 20-m shuttle run (20-m SRT), grip, vertical jump (for muscular strength) and 50-meter dash (for speed) tests before and after intervention. VO2max was estimated from 20-m SRT using Leger's equation. Mixed model Repeated Measures ANOVAs were conducted to determine differences in fitness variables from baseline to post-intervention across intervention groups. RESULTS: The performance of 20-m SRT (laps), Grip(kg), Vertical jump (cm) and 50-meter dash(s) were significantly improved among IG while no change among CG after intervention in boys. There was also a significant group-by-time interaction was observed for Grip(kg), Vertical jump (cm) and 50-meter dash(s) in girls, no difference between IG and CG at baseline, but vertical jump performance was significantly improved among IG while no change among CG after intervention. Although 20-m SRT scores of both IG and CG participants increased from baseline to after intervention, there was no group difference in the improvement, p>0.05.(Table 1) CONCLUSIONS: Although both conventional PE and SG specific lessons can increase muscular strength and speed, 10-week SG training also effectively improves aerobic fitness among 6-7 years old Chinese children. There was different improvement between genders.Table 1: Comparison between IG and CG on Fitness