Students in early adolescence (secondary school) are involved in various physical extracurricular activities, such as sports and dance activities. It seems that physical activities have an impact on academic achievement and cognitive performance. In my master's thesis, I investigated the level of physical activity among adolescents and explored possible differences in executive functions among the three groups of students with different levels of engagement in physical activity (non-athletes, athletes, dancers). First, students (N = 213) completed online questionnaires: Youth Physical Activity Questionnaire (YAPQ) and Demographic Questionnaire. Further selected students (N = 48) were divided into three equal groups (non-athletes, athletes, dancers) with similar characteristics. They completed Youth Physical Activity Questionnaire -during distance learning (Vprašalnik o fizični aktivnosti mladostnikov v času šolanja na daljavo) and cognitive tasks. The results showed that the participants were more active than students in other countries. During the four-month distance learning period, the average physical activity of the participants was statistically significantly reduced. In addition, the percentage of students who did not meet the minimum recommendations for physical activity was increased, the amount of physical extracurricular activities was reduced, and the level of physical education was reduced. During distance learning, the athletes group was more physically active than the non-athletes group, and there was no difference between the dancers and the other groups. Physical extracurricular activities were not performed as usual because of distance learning. Between three groups of students (non-athletes, athletes, dancers) I found no difference in tasks of working memory, attention and inhibition.
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