Analysis of daily physical activity of male and female middle school students according to periods

Purpose The purpose of this study is to measure the daily physical activity of male and female middle school students according to the period (VD: vaction day, SNPE: school day no PE, SPE: school day with PE) by using 3-axis accelerometer, and to compare the characteristics of adolescent physical activity according to gender and period. Methods The subjects were 130 middle school students (68 male, 62 female students). Data collection was performed using a 3-axis accelerometer(GT3X model, ActiGraph). Collected data were converted into time by intensity and rate using physical activity analysis program (Actilife v6.11.9) and analyzed by statistical program (SPSS 25.0). One-way ANOVA and independent sample t-test were used for statistical analysis. Tukey's HSD was used as a post analysis. The statistical significance level was .05. Results As a result, during each periods(VD, SNPE, and SPE), except for MVPA(moderate to vigorous physical activity) time on SPE, sedentary and MVPA time were significantly higher in female students, and low intensity and total physical activity time were significantly higher in male students. For male students, total physical activity time was higher in the order of SPE, SNPE, and VD, and for female students, physical activity time during the semester(SNPE and SPE) was significantly higher than VD. For male students, MVPA time was significantly high in order of SPE, SNPE, and VD, and for female students, it was high in order of SPE, SNPE, and VD but only significant difference occurred between SPE and VD. For both male and female students, sedentary time was high in the order of VD, SNPE, and SPE, but the sedentary time during vacation was significantly higher than during the semester. Conclusions When summarizing the results, first, it was confirmed that school and physical education classes as a physical activity space play a significant role in physical activity, especially MVPA, of male and female middle school students, second, the physical activity effect of physical education class was found to be more effective in male students. Based on the results of this study, it is necessary to conduct studies on various grades and to explore various factors affecting physical activity in a complex way.