Level of physical activity of students in Poland, Portugal and Belarus.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: The WHO term 'physical activity' refers to all body movements produced by skeletal muscles which require energy expenditure. The ways to be active include daily activities, exertion in the performance of work, or active recreation. The objective of the study is to compare physical activity of the students of Bialystok University of Technology, Higher School of Physical Education and Tourism in Biaystok (Poland), University of Beira Interior in Covilha (Portugal) and Janka Kupala Grodno State University in Grodno (Belarus). MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 1,136 persons participated in the study (398 men and 738 women). The level of physical activity of the students was assessed on the basis of a short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). The individual value of the body mass index (BMI) was calculated for each respondent. RESULTS: Among men studying at WSWFiTB, in Portugal and Belarus, the dominant level of activity was high. Both in the group of men and women, people studying in Portugal spent the most time sitting during one working day. Without taking into account the gender of the respondents, a high level was the dominant among students of WSWFiTB, in Portugal and Belarus. With regard to overweight and obese people, the highest average amount of energy expenditure was recorded in the case of intensive activity. CONCLUSIONS: Men, compared to women, were characterized by a higher average amount of energy consumption related to total activity and intensive exercise. Students in Belarus obtained the highest average amount of energy expenditure related to moderate and intensive activity, compared to students at BUT, WSWFiTB and in Portugal. A high level of activity dominated both in the group of underweight/normal body weight, as well as overweight and obese persons.

Physical Fitness as Part of the Health and Well-Being of Students Participating in Physical Education Lessons Indoors and Outdoors.

The analysis of existing information on physical activity and fitness as elements of health and well-being reveals that they are achieved particularly effectively in contact with nature. Physical education lessons outdoors, as a form of healthy training, have been performed in numerous countries for years, providing a response to the traditional indoor model of this kind of education. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the relationship between the participation of students in outdoor and indoor lesson activities and the change in their physical fitness. 220 students participated in an experimental study. The experimental group, which did exercise usually in open spaces, included 49 boys and 54 girls. The control group, which exercised inside school, consisted of 63 boys and 54 girls. The study period lasted two years and involved the fifth and sixth form of primary school. Experimental group subjects were 11.26 years old (±0.32) during the initial test, and the control group individuals were 11.28 years (±0.32). During the final test, the average ages of experimental group subjects was 12.96 years (±0.32), and 12.98 years (±0.32) in the control group. The International Physical Activity Test was applied in the study. The differences between the levels of particular components of physical fitness were not statistically significant during the initial measurement (p-values ranged from p = 0.340 to p = 0.884). After two years of outdoor physical education lessons, there was revealed a considerable increase in the speed, jumping ability, and aerobic endurance of the students. Statistically significant differences were observed in these three tests, including running speed (p = 0.001), legs power (p = 0.001), and endurance (p = 0.000). The findings encourage one to continue pedagogical experiments regarding physical activity in outdoor natural environments.