The Effectiveness of Web-based Physical Activity on Physical Literacy and General Health of Primary School Students During the Corona Epidemic

The stress and anxiety caused by the spread of corona disease have resulted in a lack of motor literacy; if physical literacy is improved to a desirable level, it could guarantee health throughout life. In this regard, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of web-based physical activity on physical literacy and the general health of primary school students during the Corona epidemic.

The current research is semi-experimental in which 50 students aged 8 to 10 from Noorabad city participated in the academic year of 2020-2021 by taking physical literacy tests and completing the general health questionnaire of Goldberg and Hiller (1979) as a pre-test and post-test. The experimental group (n=25) participated in the physical activity program for 16 sessions through Whatsapp software, and the control group (n=25) did not exercise. To analyze the data, multivariate analysis of variance was applied using SPSS software version 24.

The results showed the effect of web-based physical activity on physical literacy (p<0.001) and its components (including daily physical activity (p<0.001), physical competence (p<0.001), motivation and self-confidence (p<0.001), and knowledge and understanding (p<0.001)), as well as general health (p<0.001) and its components (including physical symptoms (p<0.001), anxiety and sleep disorder (p<0.001), social function disorder (p<0.001) and depression (p<0.001)), are significant.

According to the findings, active and regular participation in web-based physical activity leads to motor health (physical literacy) and mental health (general health) in students by creating an active lifestyle.