Development of moderate intensity aerobic exercise VCD for normal children 80 aged 9 - 10 years old

ABSTRACT

Exercise is important for improving children’s health. However, exercise media, in particular aerobic exercise videos, are still aimed only at adults. The purpose of this study was to produce a moderate intensity aerobic exercise video CD suitable for 9-10 years old Thai children, and compare heart rates and blood pressure levels between the genders taking the program. The study procedure is divided into two parts - creating the video CD and testing the intensity level of the exercises program. The 29-minute aerobic exercise program was composed of 3 phases a 4-minute warm-up, 20 minutes of aerobics, and 5-minutes of recovery. The exercise program was tested on 24 subjects (12 boys and 12 girls) aged between 9-10 years old with standard height and weight for Thai children. Heart rate and blood pressure were monitored and recorded at the 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th and 29th minute, including the 1st, 5th and 10th minutes during the resting periods. The average heart rate at a steady stage was reached at moderate exercise intensity (65.55 ± 6.29% of predicted maximum heart rate). The number of persons classified as exercising at low, moderate, and high intensity was 41.67%, 50.00% and 8.33% respectively. Normal blood pressure response was found among subjects. There were no statistically significant differences in heart rate and blood pressure responses between genders. All subjects could complete the exercise program satisfactorily without any difficulties. Therefore, using this video CD could produce a moderate intensity of exercise in normal children aged 9-10 years old. However there was no heart rate and blood pressure response differences between boys and girls.