The aim of the thesis was to determine movement patterns in adolescents for different parts of the day. During week days in and after school time, and during the weekend when youth has the opportunity to manage its time more independently. We also wanted to find out whether there are any gender differences in movement patterns.
The data were collected through measurements in the framework of the ARTOS 2014 study. The sample included 173 first year students of various Slovenian four-year high school programs. The participants wore a motion sensor Sense Wear Pro to measure a sample of movement activity. The average MET values were calculated to compare movement activity in different parts of the day and week. With Pearson's coefficient we determined the correlation of physical activity in different parts of the day and week, and the connection between active and sedentary time. T-test for independent samples was used to determine the difference in physical activity between the sexes.
Adolescents are most active during the late afternoon, both during the week and during the weekend. Statistically significant correlation between movement activity during school time and late afternoon movement activity didn’t occur with boys [r(44) = 0.138, p = 0.370], while in girls it was moderately high [r(58) = 0.510, p < 0.001]. The highest values of movement activity were reached by adolescents during the weekend in the late afternoon. Values of non-active time for boys were the highest in the morning during school time. Differently than boys, girls were most inactive during the weekend in the morning. The T-test for independent samples showed that there are statistically significant differences in average movement activity between boys and girls; t(100) = 6.387, p < 0.001. Boys (M = 2,258, SD = 0,433) achieved higher values of movement activity and had more active movements patterns than girls (M = 1,811, SD = 0,271).
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