The Influence of a Shorter Sports Program on the Development of Anthropological Characteristics of Preschool Children

Predškolska dob vrijeme je intenzivnih promjena. Anatomsko-fiziološke karakteristike djece tad se ubrzano mijenjaju, a isto je i s njihovim osobinama, sposobnostima i znanjima, odnosno antropološkim statusom. Važno je prepoznati trenutnu razvojnu fazu djeteta i primjereno odgovoriti na njegove potrebe. Kao jednu od temeljnih potreba prepoznajemo tjelesno vježbanje. Ovakvo sustavno i osmišljeno unaprjeđenje antropoloških obilježja pronalazimo i u formi kraćeg sportskog programa. Provedeno je istraživanje kojim se provjerava koliki je utjecaj ovog programa na razvoj antropoloških obilježja djece predškolske dobi. Sudjelovalo je osam dječaka i sedam djevojčica, odnosno ukupno 15 djece predškolske dobi. Procjenjivane su njihove antropometrijske karakteristike te motoričke i funkcionalne sposobnosti na samom početku i kraju provedbe kraćeg sportskog programa. Upotrijebljeni su sljedeći testovi: mjerenje tjelesne visine, tjelesne težine i opsega podlaktice, taping rukom, skok udalj s mjesta, pretklon raznožno, poligon natraške, podizanje trupa i trčanje. Podatci su obrađeni upotrebom parametara deskriptivne statistike, aritmetičkom sredinom kao mjerom centralne tendencije, standardnom devijacijom kao mjerom raspršenja, minimumom i maksimumom, a za testiranje razlika između inicijalnog i finalnog mjerenja korišten je t-test za zavisne uzorke. Rezultati upućuju na porast tjelesne visine, tjelesne težine i opsega podlaktice te na porast u rezultatima tapinga rukom, skoka udalj s mjesta, pretklona raznožno, podizanja trupa i trčanja u odnosu na inicijalno mjerenje, dok u finalnom rezultatu poligona natraške nema značajne promjene u odnosu na inicijalno mjerenje.Preschool age is a time of intense changes. The anatomical-physiological characteristics of children then change rapidly, and it is the same with their characteristics, abilities and knowledge, in other words with their anthropological status. It is important to recognize the child's current developmental stage and respond appropriately to his needs. We recognize physical exercise as one of the fundamental needs. This kind of systematic and planed improvement of anthropological features is also found in the form of a shorter sports program. A study was conducted to check the actual impact of this program on the development of anthropological characteristics of preschool children. Eight boys and seven girls participated – a total of 15 preschool children. Their anthropometric characteristics and motor and functional abilities were evaluated at the very beginning and at the end of the implementation of the shorter sports program. The following tests were used: measurement of body height, body weight and forearm circumference, hand tapping, standing long jump, various forward bends, polygon backwards, trunk lifting and running. Data were processed using descriptive statistics parameters, arithmetic mean as a measure of central tendency, standard deviation as a measure of dispersion, minimum and maximum, and the t-test for dependent samples was used to test the differences between the initial and final measurements. The results indicate an increase in body height, weight and forearm circumference, as well as an increase in the results of hand tapping, standing long jump, various forward bends, trunk lifting and running compared to the initial measurement, while there is no significant change in the final result of the polygon backwards compared to the initial measurement