The Feeling of Pleasure for Overweight Children during Different Types of Physical Activity

The feeling of pleasure during physical education (PE) could increase with physical activity participation and adherence for overweight children. While traditional games are known to have positive benefits on motor skill development, especially for children with poorer motor skills, and on the body mass of children, little is known about overweight children's feelings of enjoyment when playing these games. To identify a program of physical activity appreciated by overweight children, we tested the effect of different activities, namely soccer (SO), shot put (SP), and traditional motor games (TMGs), on the feelings of pleasure for 28 overweight male children (aged 12.11 ± 0.63 years, BMI 26.89 ± 0.15 kg·m-2) participating in a 3-month cross-over study. To measure affective responses to exercises, we applied a validated feeling scale. The data were collected during eight PE lessons, which were organized for each cycle taught. Post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed a significant difference (Z = -3.195, p < 0.01) between the mean feeling score reported after the SO cycle (2.48 ± 0.41) and that after the TMGs (3.04 ± 0.32). A similar significant difference (Z = -3.304, p < 0.01) was found between the mean feeling scores reported after the SP cycle (2.27 ± 0.32) and the TMGs (3.04 ± 0.32). There was no significant difference between the mean feeling scores reported after the SO (2.48 ± 0.41) and SP cycles (2.27 ± 0.32). In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggest that TMGs may have beneficial effects on the feelings of pleasure for overweight children. Therefore, TMGs might potentially be considered as an alternative to conventional physical activities.

Level of Knowledge in Physical Therapy of Tunisian Physical Education Teachers

Physical Therapy is a profession that helps to restore movement and function following an injury or illness. This study sought to identify the physical therapy knowledge of physical education teachers in Tunisia. This study is a cross-sectional study conducted on several physical education teachers in Tunisia. Participants were given the questionnaire through google forms, and they were all advised to fill it up. A predetermined selection criterion was used to select the participants. Out of 250 volunteers chosen for the study, only 152 questionnaires were selected for the final analysis. A self-administer questionnaire was developed, which includes two parts. Part I collects the demographical data, and part II contains the Knowledge of Physical Therapy. The consent form is attached with the questionnaire, and those who gave consent to use the data were included in the analysis. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS 20.0. With the alpha set for significance at <0.05. Overall, it was identified that 84% of the physical education teachers have good knowledge about Physical Therapy services. This study concluded that a more significant proportion of the physical education teachers have a good understanding of physical therapy services provided to the sports personnel in Tunisia. They have good knowledge of physical therapy techniques and services provided, and they also have good knowledge of their role in on-field and off-field management.