Effects of Volleyball Intervention on Health-related Fitness in Primary School Students
Condition: Physical Inactivity; Adolescent Obesity; Physical Fitness; Body Composition; Healthy Lifestyle; Exercise
MeSH terms: Pediatric Obesity
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      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.
    

Detailed 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.
    

Intervention name(s): TGfU volleyball intervention; Regular physical education classes
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Duration of intervention: 16 week; Duration of each session: 45 minutes; Frequency: One session per week during the third PE class;
The structure of each TGfU session had three parts:
The introduction part comprised 10 minutes of moderate-intensity warm-up activities; The main part comprised mini-volleyball and small-sided games (25-30 minutes); The last part of the session was the cool-down period (5 min).; Regular physical education classes following national physical education curriculum for second semester of seventh grade in primary school in Serbia.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: physical activity; exercise training; physical education; volleyball; small-sided games; health-related fitness; body composition; physical fitness; adolescents; primary school