Abstract

RODRIGUES, Luís P.; BEZERRA, Pedro  and  SARAIVA, Linda. Environmental (urban-rural) influences on physical fitness pattern of 7 to 10 year-old boys in Viana do Castelo, Portugal. Rev. Port. Cien. Desp. [online]. 2005, vol.5, n.1, pp.77-84. ISSN 1645-0523.

Children and youth lifestyles are rapidly changing. Along with a general decrease in physical activity, an increased urbanization of the living spaces can be responsible for a noted decline in physical fitness. Although rural spaces are usually assumed to be related to more vigorous lifestyles, minimal information regarding school-aged children is available in the literature. The goal of this study was to compare fitness levels of elementary school rural and urban boys. The sample was drawn from the Estudo Morfofuncional da Criança Vianense database.Multivariate and univariate statistics were used to clarify the effects of the Environment (urban / rural), and Age (7-to-10 years-of-age). The results showed that: (i) physical fitness improved along all ages, independent of the environment; (ii) rural and urban boys revealed significantly different physical fitness profiles; (iii) rural boys performed significantly better on the Pull Up, 50 meter Dash and 20-meter Pacer Run, while their urban counterparts showed superior results on the Shuttle Run and Standing Long Jump.

Keywords : physical fitness; children; boys; urban/rural; lifestyle.

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