In the master's thesis we tried to find out the attitude of 4th and 5th grade pupils' towards Physical Education considering their body mass index.
In the theoretical part, we defined overweight and obesity, causes for obesity and analyzed obesity as a disease. We studied overweight and obese children in Slovenia and in the world and identified the growing trend of overweight among children. We defined the body mass index and pointed out differences in definition between adults and children. We introduced some recommendations for successfull reducing overweight. We described healthy lifestyle and presented two projects which encourage to healthy lifestyle. In last chapter we defined the importance of physical exercise for health.
In the research within the empirical part participated 164 pupils, who attended 4th and 5th grades of Primary School Jakob Aljaž Kranj and Primary School Šturje Ajdovščina. We wanted to analyze their attitude towards Physical Education. We asked them if they liked Physical Education, what they like mostly about this school subject and what they like the least, what they would change regarding this school subject and how they feel during lessons. At the end we asked them how often they engage in physical activities with the family and which sport they like the most.
The results showed that Physical Education is popular among normal weight children and unpopular among overweight and obese children. The elements of this school subject that pupils’ like the most are elementary games, while overweight and obese pupils prefer ball games. The elements of this school subject that pupils like the least are ball games, while overweight and obese pupils want less running. Children in general group do not want any changes in terms of this school subject, while overweight and obese pupils want to deal with some other sports.
On the question how they feel during Physical Education, the biggest difference between overweight and normal weight children was in the answer, that they feel ashamed. 51,43 % of overweight and obese children agreed with that and only 22,48 % normal weight children agreed with that. We can say that negative feelings are rare among overweight and obese children during Physical Education .
40 % of overweight and obese children engage in physical activities with their families only at weekend, 31,43 % occasionally, 20 % every day and 8,57 % never. The most popular sports are cycling and ball games. They are also the most popular sports among overweight and obese children.
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