Differences in the Quality of Life Relative to the Level of Cardiorespiratory Capacity of Primary School Students

Abstract

As cardiorespiratory capacity is an important factor of an overall quality of life and a significant indicator of physical fitness, its development should begin from early childhood. The goal of the research is to determine the differences in the quality of life and cardiorespiratory abilities of primary education students. A total of 651 fourth-grade primary school students from the Republic of Croatia participated in the research. The average age of the subjects was 10.38±0.50 years, and the sample was divided in two subsamples according to gender, 316 girls (10.30±0.47 years) and 335 boys (10.34±0.49 years). Body height was measured with a portable altimeter, while body mass, body mass index – BMI, percentage of fat, level of obesity, and muscle mass were measured with a two-frequency body composition analyser (TANITA DC-360P). Waist circumference and hip circumference were measured with a centimeter tape, while the ratio of the waist and hip circumference (WHR index) was calculated based on their ratio. Cardiorespiratory capacity was assessed with a multi-stage 20m-running test (20MSRT Shuttle run test). For assessing the qualty of life, the researchers used a Croatian version of the KIDSCREEN-10 Questionnaire. The research results show a high mean value of the overall life quality assessment (4.33). The identification of individual differences between the researched groups demonstrated that students with a high level of cardiorespiratory capacity rate their quality of life significantly higher than students with a low or moderate cardiorespiratory capacity. According to the results, 41.01% of students have an unsatisfactory level of cardiorespiratory ability. There are statistically significant differences in morphological characteristics and cardiorespiraory capacity among the groups classified according to their level of cardiorespiratory capacity. Children with a higher level of cardiorespiratory capacity report a better quality of life and have better indeces of physical nutrition. Physical exercises used to boost the development of the cardiorespiratory capacity of children indirectly impact the prevention of obesity and can diminish other factors of cardiovascular risk.