Decline of physical activity level from childhood to adolescence

Various studies have confirmed that physical activity during childhood and adolescence is associated with benefits to the health of children and adolescents, including decreased adiposity, improved cardiovascular fitness, prevention of the metabolic syndrome .Physical education and sport in schools has a fundamental role: is an essential component of the educational process of the student, promotes the development of perceived competence and enjoyment that are mediating factors to increase levels of physical activity and promote the development of relations between the areas of motor, cognitive, emotional-affective and social of the person.The transition from childhood to adolescence marks the beginning of a period of great vulnerability and the children who have a low perception of competence will continue to have it even during the later ages with low of physical activity levels. The study aims to verify the following hypotheses: a. the group of children and young people of normal weight (Nw) showed higher of physical activity levels compared to the group in terms of overweight-obesity (Ow-Ob), regardless of the gender differences; b. during the transition from primary school to middle school, there is a decline in physical activity levels. The aim of this study is to compare the differences in physical activity levels, of a sample divided by gender, age and into two groups, according to BMI (Nw vs Ow-Ob) and the age (8-10 vs. 11-13). Methods. The self-report PAQ_C - Physical activity questionnaire for children – has been proposed to a sample of 212 primary school children (age: F 9.52±0.59; M 9.79±0.52) and to a sample 298 boys and girls of middle school (age: F 11.9±0.9; M 12±0,99) of the Apulia Region. The sample was divided according to gender differences and group, normal weight (Nw) and overweight-obese (Ob-Ow), according with cutt off of Cole The results confirm previous evidence on changes in physical activity levels during the transition from primary school to middle school and that BMI is a factor that increases these differences. The studies on the monitoring of physical activity levels of children and young people seek interdisciplinary approaches to implement interventions at national and local level, according to the inferred directions organizational context, for interbreed the results with other information about motor development, psychological, social.