Evaluation of mini-tennis program for Yerevan first grade schoolchildren 6-7 years of age

Abstract

Physical inactivity has become a serious health problem throughout the world. Three out of five Canadian children and youth aged 5-17 years are not active enough for optimal growth and development. Physical inactivity has been identified also as one of the major risk factors for many chronic health conditions. In the Republic of Armenia, physical inactivity is also a public health problem. There is lack of public playgrounds, physical education teachers, and sport gyms or equipment in secondary schools. However, there are no known epidemiological studies, previously conducted on this problem in Armenia. The Mini-Tennis program, implemented in six secondary schools during the physical education classes, filled this gap to some extent. The current study is aimed to evaluate the program, which was implemented from September to May, 2001. Classes of the program were conducted during physical education sessions once per week, lasting 45 minutes as part of the students' curriculum. Six secondary schools were selected by convenience sampling methods for the "Mini-Tennis" program. A total of 369 children were involved in the study. The tests utilized in the program were the following: running, jumping, throwing and catching. Using the secondary data, the improvement in performance of 6-7 years old first grade Yerevan schoolchildren after the implementation of the Mini-Tennis program and the difference between the physical activity scores of 6-7 years old first grade Yerevan schoolchildren taught by physical education teachers versus classroom teachers were examined. Statistically significant improvement in children’s scores was observed in all 4 tests. The mean difference in scores in classes with physical education teachers versus classroom teachers was observed in throwing, running and catching was also statistically significant. Due to the established effectiveness of the program and its feasibility it is recommended to broadly implement the Mini-Tennis program in Armenia either in schools during physical education classes as part of the student’s curriculum or additional physical activity promotion program.