Abstract
This study aimed to develop a physical education fitness program for adolescents to counteract the declining physical activity levels caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to investigate the program’s effect. This mixed-methods study developed and implemented a five-component “Music Beeps” (MB) program to promote adolescents’ physical fitness. A total of 240 students from two high schools in South Korea—divided into experimental and control groups—participated in 32 sessions over 16 weeks. The changes in students’ fitness were analyzed, and the educational effects were examined via inductive analysis of the observation logs and group and in-depth interviews. The results demonstrated that, whereas the comparison group demonstrated no statistically significant changes in power, muscular strength and endurance, or cardiopulmonary endurance, the experimental group showed changes in all these variables, along with changes in flexibility. Further, the MB program had significant educational effects. First, students reported that musical cues enhanced their fitness motivation and sense of responsibility. Second, record-keeping and active participation contributed to self-led fitness management. Third, activity in a small space with few pieces of equipment led to the positive perception that the program was efficient and enabled regular exercise regardless of climate conditions.
Highlights
Improving physical fitness through frequent physical activity and regular exercise is important in adolescence
The Music Beeps” (MB) program was run for 20 min during a 50-min class twice a week, which included the time for warmup exercise; the experimental group participated in our MB program, while the comparison group underwent the exercise on its own
The comparison group autonomously performed exercises for each component of the MB program, and their average changes were analyzed on the basis of pre- and post-test measurements
Summary
Improving physical fitness through frequent physical activity and regular exercise is important in adolescence. In recent years, adolescents worldwide have mostly been sedentary in school and have been spending most of their leisure time on their cell phones. Due to the increased amount of food consumption in addition to reduced physical activity, the obesity rate is on the rise. It was found that adolescents have reduced fitness due to the use of electronic media [1], and Active. Healthy Kids have mentioned the importance of fitness promotion programs for adolescents due to the low physical activity and fitness among children and adolescents [2]. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 6148; doi:10.3390/ijerph17176148 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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