Zh.I. Busheva, associate professor, Ph.D.
O.G. Litovchenko, professor, Dr.Biol.
A.V. Auster, postgraduate
Surgut state university of KhMAR-Yugra, Surgut

Key words: morphological status, primary schoolchildren, motor activity.

Relevance. The main morphological indicators like body length, body weight and chest circumference are the most significant medicosocial and sanitation criteria, which can be useful when estimating positive or negative impact from life conditions and environmental factors on the body [2-4]. In the authors' opinion [1, 5], motor activity is of special importance, being the leading factor and affecting the processes of growth, development and health of children. The study of physical development of primary schoolchildren, residents of the northern city, with different levels of motor activity is assumed to be important.

The purpose of the study was to examine the indices of the morphological status of 8 year olds doing sports in the North.

Materials and methods. Healthy natives of Surgut (KhMAR) without chronic pathologies - preschool and primary schoolchildren MBEI of primary school-kindergartens №2 and 43 were involved in the experiments. All children were divided into two groups: group A – 36 boys and 39 girls practicing sports (skiing, swimming, aerobics, football, gymnastics, etc.); group B – 56 boys and 47 girls who trained in compliance with the conventional school physical education curriculum. Motor activity of children of the group A was 10 h per week, of the group B – 3 h of physical education classes according to the conventional curriculum. Body length (BL), body mass (BM), and chest circumference (CC) were measured at rest using unified techniques. The group of physical development was determined using the regression analysis.

Results and discussion. According to the analysis of the measurements, the key morphological parameters (BL, BM, and CC) were higher for 8 year olds actively practicing sports, as compared to their coevals just attending physical education lessons (Tab.).

Tab. Some morphological parameters of 8 year olds from Surgut with different levels of motor activity

Notes: * – significant differences between boys from groups A and B, ** – significant differences between girls from groups A and B, • – significant differences between boys and girls from group A.

Average BL of 8 year old boys engaged in sports equaled 129,4±0,7 cm and was larger than that of boys engaged only in the conventional physical education curriculum (at р<0,05).

8 year old girls from the group A also had higher BL values compared to the girls from the group B (at р<0,05). There were no detectable gender differences in BL.

The BM values were similar for A and B groups. The BM of boys and girls from the group A were different (at р<0,05), while in the group B they did not depend on sex.

The CC values of 8 year olds of the group A were higher compared to group B (at р<0,05). Boys of the group A had higher CCs than girls from the same group (at р<0,05).

Significant differences in the samples investigated were revealed in the analysis of the key morphological parameters of 8 year olds of the groups A and B using the method of sigma deviations. The distribution of individual height values in the group A by sigma intervals showed that approximately 70% of both boys’ and girls’ BLs were within the average interval. 15 and 17% of boys and girls, respectively, had BL values above average, and 10% and 11% of boys and girls, respectively – below average. Only 3% of girls were tall. There were no boys engaged in sports, which had BL exceeding the average value more than by 2σ. 3% of girls were short. There were no boys with low BL.

The sigma-interval distribution of the morphological parameters of 8 year olds engaged only in conventional physical education curriculum was quite different. The BL values of 60% of the children were estimated as average. The group B contained much more children (25% boys and 21% girls) with BL values above average. BL values of 9% of boys and 11% of girls were below the average. Low BL values were observed for girls only (4%). 7% and 2% of boys and girls, respectively, had high BL values.

Comparing the sigma-interval distribution of the BM values we can see that the occurrence of parameters estimated as average was practically the same in all samples. Nonetheless, the fraction of children with BM above average was higher in the A (20% boys and 9% girls) than in the B group (8% boys and 6% girls), whereas the group B contained much higher amount of obese children (8% boys and 10% girls) compared to the group A. No underweight body was observed in both of the groups.

Average CC values prevailed in the group A (74% boys and 92% girls). In that group higher percent of children had broad chest (3% boys and 3% girls) compared to the group B.

On the basis of the regression analysis of Surgut children’s morphological parameters we distinguished 3 groups by physical development: harmonious, disharmonious and one with deviations in physical development.

The results showed that the majority of children of the group A (79% boys and 87% girls) were harmoniously developed. 13% of boys and 3% of girls of the group A were in the risk group of deviations in physical development (disharmonious physical development). Among the 8 year olds of the group B the percentage of children with disharmonious interrelations between the main anthropometric parameters was higher (25% boys and 6% girls). The percentage of children with deviations in physical development was higher in the group A (8% boys and 10% girls) than in the group B (4% boys, no girls with severe development deviations).

Conclusion. The children involved in sport had an average body length higher than of their coevals who trained in accordance with the conventional physical education curriculum, and the nature of the distribution of individual values in the studied sample shows the mean values of the characteristics (BL, CC) in 8 year olds of the group A were more frequent than in the group B. A significant part of 8 year olds of the group B had overweight. The increase of the number of children with overweight is caused by malnutrition, which does not take into account the age peculiarities and specific metabolism in the North. The 8 year olds of the group B had the highest percentage of the ones in the risk group, while the ones of group A had more frequent physical disabilities compared to the group B.

These results confirm the need for continuous monitoring and evaluation of the body's physical development as the main health criterion of primary schoolchildren.

References

1. Bespalova, T.V. The conceptual approach in formation and assessment of health of children and adolescents, living in different climate and geographic conditions / T.V. Bespalova // Nauchny meditsinskiy vestnik Yugry. - 2012. - № 1-2. - P. 27-33. (In Russian)
2. Grebneva, N.N. Environmental profile of modern children and adolescents in the Tyumen region / N.N. Grebneva. - Tyumen: Publ. h-se of TyumSU, 2006. - P. 240 (In Russian)
3.  Koynosov, I.D. Kurenkov, A.E. Blinnikova // Nauchny meditsinskiy vestnik Yugry. - 2012. - № 1-2. - P.133- 136. (In Russian)
4. Litovchenko, O.G. Age-related dynamics of basic morphological, physiological and psychophysiological parameters of natives of the Middle Ob region / O.G. Litovchenko. - Surgut: Publ. h-se of SurSU, 2009. - 92 P. (In Russian)
5. Loginov, S.I. Physical activity: methods of estimation and correction / S.I. Loginov. - Surgut: Publ. h-se of SurSU, 2005. – 342 P. (In Russian)

Corresponding author: apokin_vv@mail.ru