Run test after five years: data on a population of urban sedentary students

Introduction Urban environment may effect the physical practice, of the student population. Many sporting facilities are present in a city but sedentary approach is more typical in a city than in a rural environment. Often, in a large city (like Milano) students play sport or engage in physical activity only during physical education classes (1). The purpose of this study was to compare the same physical performance after five years: during the first and last years of high school course. Material and methods During the first month of high school (September 2005) the Physical Education teacher assessed the 1000m run test to their student. After five years (September 2011) 196 students (108 male and 88 female) repeated the test. All phases of the test were carried-out by the same teacher in the same path (outdoor). All students were sedentary and lived in the city since their birth. Results In the first session boys spent 5min (±28s) to cover the path while girls used 42s (±43sec) more than male (340 s). No girls used less than 300 sec while only one boy run 1000m more than 360sec. After 5 years the 70% of boys increase the performance using, on average, 42s less to cover the run distance. The girls showed a poor improvement: only 55% of them decrease the time. Mean speed of the girls was 2,96m/sec. Both boys and girls decrease the mean variation: boys from 37 to 34sec; girls from 43 to 30sec. The best gaps between the two tests were 60sec and 94sec for females and males respectively. No significant correlations were found between time spent and anthropometric characteristics. Also, after five years, the performance did not correlate with weight and height: r=0,006; r=0,21 and r=0,28; r=0,19 within male and female respectively. Discussion The current data show population’s characteristics that seem specific of a city environment. Indeed only the sedentary students who play games and perform physical activity during Physical Education classes showed improved running performance (2). The boys obtained better results than the girls both in terms of the number of students showing an improved performance as well as in the magnitude of the improvement. Therefore the Physical Education courses, in an urban context, are a precious element to contrast the sedentary life style (3) and to reduce the drop-out. References 1. Ozdirenç et al. Pediatrics International, 47 (1):26-31; 2005 2. Serbescu et al. Acta Paediatrica, 95 (10):1258-65; 2006 3. Verstraete et al. Public Health Nutrition, 10 (5):477-84; 2007