Effects of Volleyball Intervention on Health-related Fitness in Primary School Students

University of Nis

Status: Completed

Conditions: Physical Fitness; Physical Inactivity; Healthy Lifestyle; Adolescent Obesity; Exercise; Body Composition

Treatments: Other: TGfU volleyball intervention; Other: Regular physical education classes

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05853770

04-2100

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study is to find out if doing a 16-week volleyball program integrated in physical education classes at school can make primary school students stronger, faster, and have better endurance. The study also wants to see whether the program can lead to changes in the students' body weight, body fat, and muscle mass.

Full description

Eighty-eight healthy primary school students (mean age 13.3 years) were randomized to a TGfU volleyball intervention group (VG) or a control group (CG). CG participants attended three regular physical education (PE) classes per week, while VG participants attended two regular PE classes and a TGfU volleyball intervention that was implemented in the third PE class. The main part of each volleyball intervention session was based on the "Teaching Games for Understanding" (TGfU) model. This approach emphasizes the development of fundamental skills and tactical understanding of the game by utilizing modified games, such as small-sided games and mini-volleyball. By using this method, participants are able to increase their interaction with the ball and engage in moderate-to-vigorous gameplay intensity more frequently. The primary study outcomes were assessed before and after the 16-week intervention for both VG and CG participants. The main hypothesis is that implementation of the TGfU volleyball intervention in the physical education curriculum will lead to greater improvement in body composition and physical fitness outcomes among seventh-grade primary school students compared to those who receive traditional physical education classes, demonstrating that this intervention can be an effective method for reducing adiposity and promoting physical fitness levels among adolescents.

Enrollment: 88 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 12 to 14 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• seventh grade primary school students
• were not exempt from participating in physical education classes
• did not have any health conditions (pediatric disease, orthopedic conditions, injuries, respiratory or cardiovascular disease)
• voluntary participation
• obtained informed consent from parents or legal guardians

Exclusion criteria

• exempted from participating in physical education classes
• currently participating in other interventions
• the presence of acute or chronic infectious disease
• the presence of injury
• not able to attend all intervention sessions
• not obtaining informed consent from parents or legal guardians
• do not want to participate voluntary

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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88 participants in 2 patient groups

TGfU volleyball intervention

Experimental group

Description:

According to the national curriculum, children in Serbia must attend three regular physical education (PE) classes per week. Besides attending two regular PE classes, participants in the experimental group also followed a 16-week TGfU volleyball intervention that was implemented during the third PE class. The total number of sessions: 32 regular PE + 16 TGfU volleyball intervention .

Treatment:

Other: TGfU volleyball intervention

Control group

Active Comparator group

Description:

Control group (CG) participants followed the national physical education curriculum. The CG participants conducted three regular PE classes per week or 48 regular PE classes in total.

Treatment:

Other: Regular physical education classes