Effect of a Selected Exercise Program on Physical Literacy and Body Composition of Elementary School Girls with Overweight and Obesity

Abstract

Background and Objective: Physical literacy refers to one's capacity to adopt a healthy and physically active lifestyle. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a selected exercise program on physical literacy and body composition of overweight and obese elementary school girls. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted based on a pre-test-post-test design and a control group. A number of 30 elementary school girl students (age range of 7-12 years old) with overweight and obesity were selected by purposive sampling method. Thereafter, they were randomly assigned to two groups of experimental and control (n=15 in each group). The experimental group practiced selected sports activities in 12 60-minu sessions for 8 weeks. Before and after the intervention, the physical literacy questionnaire scale was completed by the subjects and the body composition status (height, weight, fat percentage, muscle mass percentage) was assessed. Data analysis was performed using analysis of covariance and dependent t-test. Results: The obtained results pointed to a significant increase in body literacy level and muscle mass percentage, as well as a significant decrease in total body weight, body mass index, and fat percentage of the subjects (P≤ 0.05). Conclusion: As evidenced by the results of the present study, it can be concluded that the intervention of selected sports activities has been effective in the improvement of physical literacy and body composition of students.