HR4RS stamp
Irene Vega
The main objective of the research carried out by the groups Humanities and qualitative research in health (Hum&QRinHS, URJC) and LFE (UPM) has been to broaden the knowledge we have about the factors that facilitate the practice of moderate and more intense physical activity. among the child and youth population in Spain. The results of this study, published in the scientific journal European Journal of Pediatrics, reveal that physical activity decreases at the secondary and high school levels, compared to the practice carried out in primary courses. In addition to the comparison between educational levels, this paper has also studied the possible differences between both sexes.
The evaluation carried out by the research team has been based on the responses of nearly 27.000 children and adolescents from more than 300 centers in the Community of Madrid who have completed two questionnaire models: the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ- SF) and exercise conduct regulation questionnaire (BREQ-3). "These questionnaires try to measure the amount of physical activity carried out by these participants and their level of motivation when doing it," explains Daniel Bores, researcher with the Hum&QRinHS group and co-author of the study. Once the answers were analyzed, it was observed that "the girls turned out to perform less physical activity than the boys, also presenting lower levels of intrinsic motivation, that which comes from the person himself, and integrated, which is the most autonomous form within the extrinsic motivation”, details the URJC researcher.
Regarding the educational stage, the results obtained show that the students of primary education manifested higher levels of physical activity and greater intrinsic and integrated motivation than those of secondary education and high school. "These results show that the motivating elements that come from the individual, who does not need external rewards to increase said motivation, are the most effective when it comes to increasing the levels of moderate and/or vigorous physical activity among the child and youth population," emphasizes Daniel Bores.
Based on the results of this work, the team of experts suggests promoting mechanisms that stimulate the practice of physical activity among the child and youth population, particularly among girls and high school and high school students. “These mechanisms must be based more on intrinsic than extrinsic motivation, proposing activities that involve a certain level of challenge, that increase the feeling of efficacy in the participant, that is, the feeling that they are competent in something, and that provide feedback to the individual in order to be able to improve their practice and develop”, concludes the researcher.