Sports Activities Research Articles

Running, walking, and cross-country skiing: how to shape adolescents’ personalities through physical activity?

Adolescence is crucial for personality development, and sports play a significant role. This study investigates the impact of various sports on the personality traits of junior high and high school students in Shandong Province, focusing on neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Utilizing data from the “Database of Youth Health,” we employed Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) and Generalized Structural Equation Modeling (GSEM) to analyze the effects of physical activity on personality development. Findings reveal that walking significantly enhances openness and decreased neuroticism, while jogging/running substantially improves extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Cross-country skiing, however, negatively impacts all assessed personality traits. In addition, the importance of gender differences in the relationship between physical activity and personality development was revealed. The results offer insights for promoting adolescent personality development through targeted sports activities.

Profiles of Primary School Children’s Sports Participation and Their Motor Competencies

Background/Objectives: Children participate in various organized and informal physical activities (PAs) in their leisure time, presenting diverse objectives and environments for motor and social development. However, current research often focuses on specific, mostly organized activities, overlooking the complexity of participation across different settings. This study aimed to (1) identify groups of children with similar characteristics based on their participation in five organized and informal sports activities and (2) examine how the groups differ regarding gender, age, BMI, motor competencies (MCs), and attendance in institutionalized care at school. Methods: The study included n = 1717 1st and 2nd graders (M = 7.60 years, SD = 0.59, 50.7% girls) and n = 1319 3rd and 4th graders (M = 9.46 years, SD = 0.57, 49.4% girls) from the “EMOKK” study, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Data were collected via parent questionnaires on leisure sports participation, and MCs were assessed using MOBAK-1-2 and 3-4 tests. Latent profile analyses (LPAs) and univariate ANOVAs were used to identify group differences. Results: A three-profile LPA model best fits the data, revealing differences in participation across individual and team sports, optional school sports, free play on the school playground, and informal activities during leisure time. Children involved more in team sports (profiles: allrounder and very active sportsperson) participate more in informal play and present better MCs than children participating mainly in individual sports (profile: individual sportsperson). Girls were predominantly in the individual sports profile, while boys were more evenly spread across all groups. These findings highlight the importance of designing targeted interventions that promote participation in both organized and informal sports, particularly for children with lower levels of PA. Conclusions: Children show different patterns of engagement in different interrelated organized and informal leisure PA contexts. These specific patterns and the children’s MCs should be taken into account for the targeted promotion of PAs during leisure time.

The use of autonomy among physical education teachers in Finland and Kurdistan region of Iraq

IntroductionThe aim of the study was to examine fifth-grade physical education (PE) teachers’ reflections and perceptions about PE teaching in Finland and Kurdistan region of Iraq (KRI), using analyses of in-depth interviews with a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach.MethodsThis was accomplished by exploring eight Finnish and six KRI PE teachers’ opinions, attitudes, experiences, and reflections regarding their work as PE teachers, using semi-structured in-depth interviews about PE, as well as their reflections related to an indoor and an outdoor video from ordinary PE teaching in the other country. The initial analyses of the two groups of teachers using the qualitative analysis program NVivo revealed interesting findings related to student autonomy, and these differences were examined closely.ResultsWhile the analyses showed that all the Finnish PE teachers highlighted the importance of providing student autonomy within the open-ended questions related to PE, PE teachers in KRI seldom discussed autonomy during the open-ended questions. Instead, they seemed to organize their teaching in a way that decreased autonomy. The Finnish PE teachers indicated that the use of autonomy was central in the curriculum, and that they used autonomy to increase the students’ motivation and to make PE more meaningful for the students. With such a strategy, the use of autonomy would also activate and include more students, even if Finnish PE teachers reported certain challenges with students’ autonomy. The PE teachers from KRI, however, related PE to be mainly focused on performing sport activities and reflected a strategy of “just do as I do” - a strategy that created little room for autonomy, even if the findings pointed to some traces of autonomy among the PE teachers in KRI.DiscussionConsidering the findings and the theoretical concept of self-determination theory that highlight students’ autonomy as essential for students’ motivation, integration, wellness, and well-being in PE, our findings suggest that new perspectives and practices are needed among teachers in KRI to ensure autonomy in PE teaching. In this vein, increased exchange of experiences and collaboration between educators from Finland and KRI could be beneficial.

The Importance of Sports Activities in the Formation of Skills for an Active and Healthy Lifestyle in Young People

Sports activities play a crucial role in developing the skills for an active and healthy lifestyle in adolescents, providing students with the opportunity to experience and engage in a variety of activities in order to develop their motor, social, and intellectual skills. The purpose of the paper is to highlight the essential role that sports activities have in skills training, necessary for an active and healthy lifestyle in adolescents. The objectives of the research include examining the physical benefits of sports activities on the health of adolescents, highlighting the development of motor skills through sports activities, and analyzing the impact of sports activities on the social and emotional development of adolescents, especially through identifying strategies and resources available to encourage adolescents to participate in sports activities and adopt an active and healthy lifestyle. Sports activities are essential for training the skills for an active and healthy lifestyle in adolescents, contributing to the improvement of physical and mental health, the development of social and emotional skills, and the increase of self-confidence and self-esteem.

A Systematic Review for The Development of Sustainable Tourism Destinations Based on Sports Tourism

The study purpose: The project's goal is to develop sustainable tourism destinations in Kemuning Village by reviewing the literature on sports tourism Materials and methods: An extensive literature review was carried out. Articles from 2015 to 2024 covered ways to enhance sustainable tourism by fostering the growth of sports tourism. For electronic searches, Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus are used. All the articles that discuss how to improve sports tourism-based tourist attractions are included here. Results: According to the integrated theory of tourism, sports have a role in (1) tourism management strategies, which include methods, facilities, tourist attractions, SOPs, infrastructure, additions and maintenance of facilities, sustainable management of natural resources, and visitor security and safety; (2) the role of stakeholders, which includes the government as a regulator and related institutions; and (3) the role of the authorities, which includes government agencies and institutions related to Sports tourism will increase visits to Central Java and improve the economy. Sports activities in tourist destinations can benefit local governments, enhance community welfare, and create more job opportunities if they are appropriately managed. Sports tourism and activities can be combined in Central Java. Conclusions: Combining sporting activities like river tubing, paragliding, tea gardens, and jeep communities with Kemuning Village in Ngargoyoso District, Karanganyar, Central Java, Indonesia, can help the village grow its tourism industry due to the fact that it influences the social, cultural , and economic growth of the area, promoting local advancement.

PCNet: a human pose compensation network based on incremental learning for sports actions estimation

Human pose estimation has a wide range of applications. Existing methods perform well in conventional domains, but there are certain defects when they are applied to sports activities. The first is lack of estimation of the extremity posture, making it impossible to comprehensively evaluate the movement posture; the second is insufficient occlusion handling. Therefore, we propose a human pose compensation network based on incremental learning, which obtains shared weights to extract detailed features under the premise of limited extremity training data. We propose a higher-order feature compensator (HOF-compensator) to embed the attributes of the extremity into the torso and limbs topology structure, building a complete higher-order feature. In addition, to improve the occlusion handling performance, we propose an occlusion feature enhancement attention mechanism (OFE-attention) that can identify occluded keypoints and enhance attention to occlusion areas. We design comparative experiments on three public datasets and a self-built sports dataset, achieving the highest mean accuracy among all comparative methods. In addition, we design a series of ablation analysis and visualization displays to verify that our method performs best in sports pose estimation.

The Effect of High Interval Intensity Training (HIIT) on the Performance of Basketball Players 10-15 Years Old

Basketball is a game of seconds. A characteristic of this sport is the high intensity, the pressure of one or more different opponents, and very short recovery times. From a physiological-biomechanical point of view, basketball is classified among the sports activities with alternating aerobic-anaerobic energy commitment, with district demands of medium to high strength and endurance. Based on the High Interval Intensity Training Program (HIIT), in 8 weeks in a group of children aged 10-15, taking into account the efficiency of time, we look up to help the athletic youth progress, offering the improvement of other important skills, such as coordination skills, speed, and performance. This study aims to identify the biomechanical variables that directly affect their progress. In this study participated 15 subjects (age: 12.53 ± 2.09; height: 1.59 ± 0.10; body mass: 49.82 ± 16.78; BMI: 19.21 ± 3.98), basketball players of the basketball team "Sonia Basket." To achieve this aim, the CMJ (countermovement jump) and SJ (squat jump) vertical jump tests were performed on the force platform. The evaluation of the data was made using statistical analysis processing methods. The independent t-test results revealed a statistical improvement of 3 cm in the maximum height in the CMJ test and 90N in the maximum force in the SJ test due to the method called "HIIT." The results of this study of the HIIT method show a positive physical and physiological development of the players in such a way as to offer them the opportunity to express the highest level of performance in the game of basketball. If this training method is used for an even longer time, the results will be many times higher and will affect even more the improvements of all biomechanical parameters.

The mediating role of competence, autonomy, and relatedness in the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior

This study aims to explore the complex and multifaceted relationship between Behavioral Activation and Behavioral Maintenance in sports participation, delving into the underlying mechanisms to provide practical insights into how individuals initiate and sustain engagement in sports activities. Utilizing a combination of convenience sampling and snowball sampling methods, 378 sports participants from over ten provinces and cities in China were selected as survey subjects, and an intermediary model concerning the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior was constructed. Discriminant validity and mediation effect analyses were conducted using SPSS and AMOS 23.0. The results indicate that Behavioral Activation indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Competence (ad = 0.39), with a 95% confidence interval [0.201, 0.642], excluding 0. Behavioral Activation also indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Autonomy (be = 0.23), with a 95% confidence interval [0.109, 0.421], excluding 0. However, Behavioral Activation indirectly influences Behavioral Maintenance through Relatedness (cf. = 0.09), with a 95% confidence interval [-0.068, 0.336], which includes 0. The study reveals that both Competence and Autonomy significantly mediate the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior among athletes. However, Relatedness does not play a significant mediating role in the activation and maintenance of sports participation behavior among the participants.

Energy Drink Consumption Among Physically Active Polish Adolescents: Gender and Age-Specific Public Health Issue

ObjectivesTo analyse the consumption of energy drinks (EDs) and the motives for their consumption among physically active adolescents in Poland.MethodsA nationwide survey study was conducted in 1,530 adolescents (10–14 years old) participating in extracurricular, organised sports activities. A computer-assisted web interview method was applied.ResultsNearly half (46.4%) of the respondents were ED consumers (significantly more boys than girls: 53.0% vs. 47.0%, p = 0.010). The percentage of ED consumers increased with age, from 27.2% in 10-year-olds to 65.4% in the group of 14-year-olds (p < 0.001). The motives and circumstances of ED consumption varied depending on gender: girls were more likely than boys to drink EDs to improve concentration during studying (17.1% vs. 8.8%, p < 0.001) and to stay awake (22.8% vs. 13.8%, p = 0.002), whereas boys more often than girls reported drinking EDs during physical activity (10.9% vs. 6.0%, p = 0.020).ConclusionIt is necessary to implement gender-diversified educational campaigns on negative health effects of EDs, targeting children, parents and teachers, as consumption of EDs has been identified as a significant public health problem in Poland.

Pet Ownership and Family Involvement in Sports and Other Activities

ABSTRACT The impact that companion animals may have on adolescent engagement in sports and other activities is currently unclear. This study included participant data gathered from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study®, a longitudinal study of brain development and youth health outcomes in the United States (n = 8,489). This study aimed to clarify the extent to which companion animal type impacts family involvement in sports and other activities. Additionally, it is framed within the bioecological model of human development, which provides a useful framework for human–animal interaction researchers going forward. This study utilized multiple logistic and linear regressions in answering the research questions posed. The results indicate that, when adjusting for context- and person-level covariates, there does not appear to be a meaningful relationship between companion animal type and family involvement in sports and other activities, physical activity, or screen time. This study serves as a guidepost for human–animal interaction researchers as to the importance of including contextual variables in their studies before making claims regarding the impact of companion animals on youth, especially when details about the companion animal relationship are unavailable.

THE IMPACT OF A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE AND STRESS MANAGEMENT ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS AT UNIVERSITY MUHAMMADIYAH LAMONGAN

This study aims to determine the effect of a healthy lifestyle and stress management on the academic performance of students at Muhammadiyah University of Lamongan, using a quantitative method and purposive sampling technique on 45 respondents. The data was analyzed using multiple linear regression with SPSS version 27. The results show that a healthy lifestyle does not have a significant effect on academic performance, while stress management has a significant effect. Simultaneously, a healthy lifestyle and stress management have a significant positive effect on academic performance. Based on these findings, students need to pay more attention to how they manage stress, particularly in coping with academic pressures. Educational institutions, such as UMLA, can provide support by offering stress management training programs, such as psychological counseling, motivational seminars, or workshops on relaxation techniques and mindfulness. In addition, institutions can promote healthy lifestyles by organizing regular sports activities and providing access to health facilities. Academic departments may also consider policies that promote a balance between academic demands and student well-being, such as offering flexible deadlines and personal guidance. Given that this study explains only 15.6% of the variability in academic performance, future research can explore other factors, such as learning motivation, teaching methods, social support, and the use of technology in the learning process.

Intelligent rehabilitation assistant: Application of deep learning methods in sports injury recovery

In recent years, sports injury rehabilitation has developed into a specialized field that has forced the combination of an orthopedic surgeon, sports physiotherapist, and sports physician. Determining the appropriate time for an injured athlete to resume practice or competition is regarded as sports rehabilitation. Discovering the best solutions to avoid injuries, maximize recovery, and enhance performance is crucial for sports activities. The study introduced an intelligent rehabilitation assistant (IRA) that leverages advanced deep learning (DL) methods to enhance sports injury recovery. In this study, the IRA incorporates redefined prairie dog optimized bidirectional long-short-term memory (RPDO-Bi-LSTM) to enhance accuracy, predicting sports injury recovery. The study collected data on the state of rehabilitation, physiological parameters, and general health using wearable sensors and movement patterns. The data was preprocessed using a median filter to remove noise from sensor data. Region-based segmentation using segmented images from preprocessed data. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) using extracted features from obtained data. The IRA provides personalized recovery plans and real-time feedback. The framework consists of the components, suggested models to create quality scores for motions, measurements to quantify motion performance, and scoring of performance measurement elements into numerical quality scores. The proposed method is implemented using Python software. RPDO-Bi-LSTM presentation is evaluated by various metrics, such as accuracy 94.2% recall 98.2%, precision 96.5%, and specificity 95.2%, f1 score 95.6%, he planned technique attained good performance and improved the accuracy of sports injury recovery.

AS CONTRIBUIÇÕES DA EDUCAÇÃO FÍSICA ESCOLAR NO DESEMPENHO MOTOR DE CRIANÇAS COM DEFICIÊNCIA: UMA REVISÃO DE ESCOPO

Sports activities have proven to be an important tool for the inclusion of children with disabilities. However, few studies highlight how the motor skills of children with disabilities develop. This study aimed to identify, through an scoping review, the contributions of Physical Education in schools towards the development of motor skills in children with disabilities. The study was conducted as an scoping review. The following criteria were used during the search process: a) databases: Scielo, Lilacs, and Google Scholar, b) keywords: physical education, motor skills, motor development, children with disabilities, c) publications between 2010 and 2024, d) studies focusing on children up to 12 years old. After applying these criteria, five articles were selected for full analysis. All selected studies were conducted in public schools in Brazil and involved children with conditions such as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), Down Syndrome, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, blindness, dwarfism, and global developmental delay. The main tests used were: the Motor Development Scale, Portage Operationalized Inventory, Self-Perception of Competence Test, Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, and the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2). Pre- and post-tests were used in four studies, which implemented intervention plans through case studies. The results indicated positive correlations, showing that multidisciplinary interventions addressing the diverse needs of children with disabilities could improve their motor domains. In conclusion, Physical Education in schools is an important tool that can contribute to the improvement of motor skills in children with disabilities. Received: 2024/09/04 Reformulated: 2024/10/11 Accepted: 2024/10/11

Real-life boxing activity recognition with smartphones using attention assisted deep learning models

Mobile computing technologies play a pivotal role in narrowing the gap between athletes and sports monitoring systems, while also advancing towards intelligent and automatic supervision of individual sports activities. The widespread presence of smartphones equipped with multifunctional sensors has enabled the acquisition and analysis of data, facilitating Human Activity Recognition (HAR). Although recognising sports activities using a smart mobile phone’s accelerometer is widely used, traditional methods struggle with intricate and real time activities due to the high-dimensional sensor data. This study introduces a smartphone-based architecture for HAR utilising inertial accelerometers to record athlete’s game actions data sequences, extract relevant features and derive the player’s activity data through multiple three-axis accelerometers. In this paper an Attention assisted Deep Convolution Neural Network based Bi-LSTM (AT-DCNN-BL) model is proposed. The raw data undergoes sliding window pre-processing technique, the deep learning framework of deep convolution neural network layers helps in automatic feature extraction, the bi-LSTM structure process the boxing activity data and the attention is focussed over the boxing activity classification data. The attention mechanism redistributes the weights of the extracted features which aids in increasing the classification accuracy. Other classification models like Deep Convolutional Neural Network (DCNN), Bi-directional Long Short-Term Memory (bi-LSTM), Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) and Random Forest (RF) are also applied to the dataset collected from a mobile sensor. The study explores training of deep learning methods and illustrates the superiority of the proposed approach over others using the collected mobile sensor dataset. The AT-DCNN-BL model achieved a higher classification accuracy compared to the other models. The AT-DCNN-BL model outperformed all the other models achieving a higher accuracy rate (92.71%).

Impact of Swimming Training on the Course and Symptoms of Bronchial Asthma and Respiratory System Function: A Literature Review

Introduction: Bronchial asthma is one of the most common inflammatory diseases among adults and children. It is characterized by the occurrence of bronchial obstruction, which is manifested, for instance, by a feeling of shortness of breath, wheezing, a feeling of tightness in the chest, a feeling of squeezing in the chest. In addition to pharmacological treatment, health behavior including sport is of great importance. In this publication, we will attempt to discuss the effects of swim training on asthma and respiratory system function. We will try to answer the question whether swimming is a safe form of exercise for patients with bronchial asthma.Material and methods: Review of the specialized literature in the field of pulmonology, guidelines for treatment of bronchial asthma and articles available on PubMed and Google Scholar database searching by the keywordsAim of the study: The aim of this publication is to review the available literature to answer the question of whether swimming training is a suitable form of exercise for asthmatic patients and what effect it has on respiratory functionConclusions: The treatment of bronchial asthma is based on the pharmacological treatment. In addition to medications, non-pharmacological methods and health behaviours are important. Appropriate physical activity for people with asthma may include swimming training, which has a beneficial effect on lung function and asthma symptoms management, especially in the paediatric population. There are studies that suggest that swimming carries a lower risk of causing bronchospasm than other sport activities, however, there are inconclusive reports on the effect of attending chlorinated swimming pools on the development of asthma and allergies. Studies on competitive and elite swimmers show that intensive swimming training, especially in chlorinated pools, can induce bronchial hyperresponsiveness and the risk of developing asthma, but this requires further research.

One-Step Cartilage Repair of Full-Thickness Knee Chondral Lesions Using a Hyaluronic Acid-Based Scaffold Embedded With Bone Marrow Aspirate Concentrate: Long-term Outcomes After Mean Follow-up Duration of 14 Years.

One-step cell-based techniques of cartilage repair that lead to restoration of durable chondral tissue and long-term maintenance of joint function are cost-effective and ideal for routine use. To examine the long-term clinical outcomes, after a mean follow-up duration of 14 years, of cartilage repair in the knee using a hyaluronic acid-based scaffold in association with bone marrow aspirate concentrate (HA-BMAC) and to evaluate the effect of age, lesion characteristics, and associated treatments on the outcome of this cartilage repair method. Case series; Level of evidence, 4. Patients were followed prospectively for a mean duration of 14.0 years after undergoing treatment of knee full-thickness articular cartilage injury using HA-BMAC. Clinical evaluation consisted of the patient-reported scoring tools of the visual analog scale and the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, which were completed preoperatively and at the time of final follow-up. A total of 26 patients with a mean age of 48.3 years (17 male, 9 female) and median chondral lesion size of 6.6 cm2 (range, 1-27 cm2) were followed prospectively. There were 3 treatment failures, and 1 patient who underwent medial compartment unicompartmental arthroplasty 12 years after HA-BMAC treatment of patellar chondral injury. Of the 22 remaining patients, after a mean final follow-up duration of 14.0 years (range, 12-16 years), the median visual analog scale score of 0.6 was significantly decreased from the preoperative median score of 5.0 (P < .001). The median Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score Pain (92), Symptoms (86), Activities of Daily Living (96), Sports (85), and Quality of Life (88) subscale values were all increased compared with the preoperative scores (P≤ .001). There was no correlation of clinical outcome score and body mass index. One-step cartilage repair of full-thickness chondral defects in the knee using an HA-BMAC led to successful long-term clinical outcomes and maintenance of joint junction after a mean follow-up duration of 14 years. Long-term clinical success in active, nonobese patients has been uniformly demonstrated across a wide range of patient ages and lesion types, including cases of multicompartment involvement, treatment of associated conditions, and large or bipolar chondral lesions.

Effect of Delaying High School Start Time on Teen Physical Activity, Screen Use, and Sports and Extracurricular Activity Participation: Results From START.

We aimed to characterize relationships between delayed high school start time policy, which is known to lengthen school night sleep duration, and patterns in activity outcomes: physical activity, non-school electronic screen time (non-schoolwork), and sports and extracurricular activity among adolescents. We used data from the START study, a multi-site evaluation of a natural experiment, assessing the effects of a school start time policy change in high schools in the Minneapolis, Minnesota metropolitan area. The study follows students in 2 schools that shifted to a later start time (8:20 or 8:50 am) after baseline year and 3 schools that maintained a consistent, early start time (7:30 am) over the 3-year study period. Activity was measured by participant self-report on an in-school survey. The analysis used a difference-in-differences estimator, in which the changes in each outcome observed in the comparison schools estimate the changes in each outcome that would have been observed in the late-start adopting schools had they not delayed their start times after baseline. Over 2 years of follow-up, no changes emerged to suggest that later school start times either interfered with, or promoted, any activity-related outcome that was measured. Communities interested in promoting sleep by delaying start times may do so knowing that there are unlikely to be adverse effects on adolescent physical activity, electronic screen time, or organized sports and activity participation. A shift to later school start times does not appear to enhance or detract from the healthfulness of students' activity level.

Phenomenal similarities and phenomenological differences between religion and sport

ABSTRACT Sport as the pursuit of competition and the achievement of ever greater records goes beyond the dimension of mere physical activity and has many similarities not only with play, drama and art, but also with religion. Symbolic representations of sporting activity are then interpreted in religious terms, e.g. that sport has the power to create a new kind of religion, that sporting and religious experiences are identical, that a specific sporting sacred can be defined. The paper accepts the position that similar phenomenal resemblances (phenomenalism) are not sufficient proof of the essential correspondence of these modes of being (phenomenology), since they touch in different ways on the relation between transcendence and immanence. Sport may point to something beyond empirical reality, but it cannot be a presentation of the sacred. It can become a representation, a depiction, not a making present of it. Thus it is possible to adequately conceptualize the world of sport as an implicit, not explicit, religion.

Використання теорії невизначеності при дослідженні показників просторового сприйняття в єдиноборствах

Purpose: to study the indicators of spatial perception of martial artists using the provisions of uncertainty theories. Material and Methods. Research methods: analysis and synthesis of scientific and methodological literature, psychophysiological measurements, mathematical and statistical methods using licensed programs RStudio and Numbers. The study was conducted in several stages. At the first stage, taking into account the peculiarities of martial artists' sports activities, a mobile application «Spatial Perception» was developed to assess their spatial perception. At the second stage, the use of the application in the field was tested and the capabilities of the mobile application were expanded in terms of obtaining detailed characteristics of measurements using the provisions of the theory of uncertainty. The study involved junior taekwondo athletes aged 14-17 years (n=25, qualification: 1st category and candidates for master of sports of Ukraine). Results: according to the measurements of the studied martial artists, it can be noted that the highest frequency of reaction time indicators lies within 583 ms (n=291). At the second stage of the test exercise, where the performer needs to react to non-moving 3D figures, there is an increase in the interquartile range by 22 ms and a violation of the symmetry of the data. It was at this stage that the largest value of the standard deviation was noted (SD=172,0 ms). This indicates a high variability of reaction time (V=22,7 %). Also, we can see an increase in reaction time at the fourth stage compared to the result of the third stage by 11,5 ms and an increase in the percentage of errors by 1,4 % (at this stage, the highest percentage of errors was recorded at 8,2 %). Based on the use of membership functions, fuzzy sets were created, which made it possible to evaluate each indicator on a scale from 0 to 1. The analysis of the test exercise performance by martial artists who have the category of KMS (candidate for master of sports) shows that the overall score for the entire test is «Good», the weighting factor is 0,74, which is closer to the «Excellent» score. It should be noted that the highest weighting coefficient was observed in the second stage of the test task. The high weighting factor (0,79) at this stage reflects the ability to quickly recognize 3D shapes in space based on the analysis of individual parts of the shapes. We can also note the low percentage of errors (3 %) at the fourth, most difficult stage. This may indicate the ability to maintain attention on the object and resistance to disturbing visual stimuli. According to the results of the martial artists who have the 1st category, it was noted that they performed the test exercise with a score of «Good» and have a total weighting factor of 0,34. The score at each stage of the test is «Good», but the values of the weighting coefficients are closer to the «Satisfactory» score. The values of the weighting coefficients demonstrate that the level of spatial perception of this group of athletes is below average. It is also worth noting the increase in the percentage of errors, especially at the fourth stage (11,7 %), which indicates a negative impact on the reaction time of additional visual stimuli. The biggest difference between weight coefficients of the studied groups was noted at the second stage and made 49 %, the smallest at the fourth stage – 27 %. Conclusions. The use of fuzzy logic methods is a promising area of activity and finds its application in sports activities. The levels of manifestation of spatial perception by weight coefficients have been determined. Thus, a group of sportsmen with a category of CMS received an overall mark for the whole test «Good»with a weight coefficient of 0,74, and martial artists of the 1st category received an overall mark for the whole test «Good» with a weight coefficient of 0,34. Comparison of results of the estimation of reaction time of martial artists with a category of CMS with sportsmen of the 1st category testifies that there are statistically significant differences between indicators (p&lt;0,05). The use of the theory of uncertainty in the assessment of spatial perception makes it possible to create flexible assessment systems and allows combining different indicators into one complex result.

Physical activity policy implementation and physical activity levels in the European Union: Are we on track to close the gap between policy and practice?

National policies are a key starting point to achieve changes in population health. This study aimed to provide an overview of the relationship between physical activity policy implementation and the levels of sufficient physical activity across the European Union over the last decade.Data from the 23 indicators of the European Union Health-Enhancing Physical Activity Monitoring Framework established to monitor country implementation of the European Union Physical Activity Guidelines from 2015, 2018 and 2021, and physical activity prevalence data from the Special Eurobarometer on Sport and Physical Activity in 2013, 2017 and 2022 were analysed.European Union Member States significantly increased their physical activity policy implementation from 2015 to 2021 by 13.2% (63.30 ± 18.89 versus 76.51 ± 14.94 %, p < 0.001, 95% CI [-19.97, -6.45]). However, no significant change in levels of sufficient physical activity was found between 2013 and 2022 (60.59 ± 15.67 versus 61.70 ± 17.67 %, p = 0.360, 95% CI [-3.61, 1.39]). Additionally, most European Union countries are not on track to meet the targeted 10% relative reduction in levels of insufficient physical activity by 2025.Physical activity policies in the European Union do not appear to be related with the intended goal of increasing levels of physical activity. Policies may need to be reviewed and policy monitoring expanded, strengthened, and better integrated.