Browsing by Subject "fyysinen inaktiivisuus"

Objectives. A general concern about children’s physical inactivity, increased screen time and sedentary behaviour is strongly presented in today’s social debate. Many studies have reported that Finnish children aren’t physically active enough which has led child obesity to become a major public health issue. The aim of this study is to find out, based on previous studies, how much Finnish students engage in physical activity and compare the results to national and international recommendations for physical activity. In addition, the effects of physical activity on children’s health, mental health and academic achievement are discussed in this study. Methodology. This study is a descriptive review of the literature, which means that the research material consists of previous studies and literature. When analysing the amounts of physical activity, Finnish studies were utilised whereas with effects of physical activity the literature consisted of international peer-reviewed studies. Material was searched from Helda, Melinda, Proquest and Google Scholar article databases and books were searched from Helka-database of University of Helsinki. The amount of articles available was great so the studies that were included in my study were the ones with the most current and substantive results that answered the research questions of my study. Results and conclusions. The results of the study presented that most Finnish students do not engage in enough physical activity to maintain good health. Based on the recent studies the amounts of physical activity are however rising, which gives an indication that the efforts made to promote physical activity are working. The results also showed that successful interventions and reforming the school culture enables promoting physical activity among students. Related to the second research question, the benefits of physical activity on children’s health are undeniable. The effect of physical activity on children’s academic achievement and cognition is also positive but the results are still quite weak and more reliable studies are needed to draw more general conclusions.