Li Chunmei, Han Xiong-Zhe
Normal College of Yanbian University, Jilin, China.
College of Physical Education, Yanbian University, Jilin, China.
Front Public Health. 2024 Dec 11;12:1506432. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1506432. eCollection 2024.
The sedentary lifestyle and mental health issues of primary school students are major public health issues in China and globally. Some studies have shown that regular physical activity is beneficial to health, but there are few epidemiological investigations on the relationship between physical activity and psychological problems. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between physical activity and mental health.
We used data from our study, which was based on the Yanbian University School of Physical Education health survey of primary education, in which 822 elementary school students in grades 4-6 participated. Physical activity is evaluated through three questions (intensity, frequency, and duration), and mental health issues are evaluated through SPSS.
In our study, 488 primary school students (200 males and 288 females) participated and completed self-reported data on physical activity and mental health variables. The findings revealed that a higher frequency of physical activity was significantly associated with decreased risks of various mental health symptoms. Specifically, students who reported a higher frequency of physical activity exhibited a lower risk of depressive symptoms (RR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.14-0.71, < 0.05), anxiety (RR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.18-0.67, < 0.05), low self-esteem (RR = 0.48, 95% CI = 0.26-0.90, < 0.05), and life dissatisfaction (RR = 0.58, 95% CI = 0.35-0.96, < 0.05). The risk of somatic complaints reporting was slightly lesser if the prevalence of physical activity reported at screening was higher (RR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.50-1.76), although this result was not statistically significant ( > 0.05). These findings highlight the importance of regular physical activity in promoting mental health among primary school students.
Given the dose-response relationship between poor mental health and lack of physical activity, it is necessary to actively promote primary school students to participate more actively in physical activities.
小学生久坐不动的生活方式和心理健康问题是中国乃至全球的重大公共卫生问题。一些研究表明，规律的体育活动对健康有益，但关于体育活动与心理问题之间关系的流行病学调查却很少。本研究的目的是探讨体育活动与心理健康之间的关系。
我们使用了本校的研究数据，该研究基于延边大学体育学院对小学教育的健康调查，共有822名四至六年级的小学生参与。通过三个问题（强度、频率和持续时间）评估体育活动情况，通过SPSS评估心理健康问题。
在我们的研究中，488名小学生（200名男生和288名女生）参与并完成了关于体育活动和心理健康变量的自我报告数据。研究结果显示，体育活动频率较高与各种心理健康症状风险降低显著相关。具体而言，报告体育活动频率较高的学生出现抑郁症状（RR = 0.31，95%CI = 0.14 - 0.71，<0.05）、焦虑（RR = 0.35，95%CI = 0.18 - 0.67，<0.05）、自卑（RR = 0.48，95%CI = 0.26 - 0.90，<0.05）和生活不满意（RR = 0.58，95%CI = 0.35 - 0.96，<0.05）的风险较低。如果筛查时报告的体育活动患病率较高，躯体不适报告的风险略低（RR = 0.93，95%CI = 0.50 - 1.76），尽管这一结果无统计学意义（>0.05）。这些发现凸显了规律体育活动对促进小学生心理健康的重要性。
鉴于心理健康不佳与缺乏体育活动之间存在剂量反应关系，有必要积极促进小学生更积极地参与体育活动。
