Health Concept and Physical Education in Primary School

Task 2

Concept of Health

Health was traditionally related to the absence of disease. As opposed to illness, health meant a transitional state of the body capable of successfully overcoming affections and pathologies, and avoiding disease.

The World Health Organization understands health as:

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease. This definition represents the first integral conception of health, in which psychological and social dimensions are included.

Thus, health is not a circumstance reduced to a series of disease processes, but a process linked to individuals and cultural and social groups.

The concept of health presented by Rodriguez (1995) is:

The highest level of physical, psychological, and social well-being and functional capacity, which allows individuals and collectivities to adapt to social factors within an integral model of life.

The following aspects are significant regarding the concept of health:

• Health is not only the absence of disease but must be understood in a positive way, as a process through which a person develops and maximizes their buffering capacities and potentials, tending toward full self-actualization as a personal and social entity (St. Martin, 1986).
• The concept of health is dynamic and changing; it varies according to the historical, cultural, and social conditions of the community in which it is formulated and accepted (de Miguel, 1985).
• Health depends on the person, as well as on the community they belong to. Personal responsibility must be promoted by society and its institutions (Font, 1976). Consequently, individual co-responsibility must equally be promoted to protect, improve, and maintain health, encouraging the greatest possible autonomy with respect to the health system (Belly, 1988).
• Health promotion is the first interdisciplinary task requiring coordination of technical and scientific actions by different types of professionals.
• Health is both a social and a political problem, whose solution necessarily involves the active participation and solidarity of the community (Font, 1976).

We emphasize the role of the responsible and autonomous individual in adopting healthy behaviors and habits that can notably influence health. We also highlight that individual health and collective health must be understood and addressed jointly, and that health problems can be approached from other perspectives, such as health psychology or physical activity.

The dynamic conception of health is closely tied to the rapid developments and social changes of modern societies, which constantly advance new solutions regarding health.

Finally, Sanchez (1996) summarizes the notable aspects of health:

• The first conception of health is notably linked to the concept of quality of life.

In each of the physical, psychological, and social dimensions of health, Bouchard et al. (1990) identify two opposite extremes:

• A state of positive health.
• A state of negative health.

Negative states of health are associated with:

• Increasing levels of morbidity and associated effects of a physical, psychological, and social nature.
• Premature incidence of mortality.

Positive states of health are associated with a healthy lifestyle:

• An optimal level of health.
• A sensation of well-being.
• Enjoyment of life capacity.
• Tolerance to the environmental stressors one faces.

Both personal and collective levels exist, and there are many behaviors that favor health, although others may lead to unfavorable health outcomes.

Concept of Lifestyle

Lifestyle is defined by Lipton (1980) as the set of guidelines and behavioral habits of a person's everyday life.

Mendoza (1994) offers the following definition: lifestyle can be described as the set of patterns that characterize the general way of living of an individual or group within a determined society.

A healthy lifestyle is not one-dimensional but multiple. There is no single healthy lifestyle; any lifestyle may be globally qualified as healthy or unhealthy depending on its behaviors (Sanchez, 1996).

Physiological Effects of Physical Activity on Health

Holistic efforts through physical activity produce the following physiological effects:

• Increase in maximum oxygen consumption, cardiac output, and systolic volume.
• Reduction of heart rate for a given oxygen consumption.
• Greater efficiency of the heart muscle.
• Better myocardial vascularization.
• Favorable trends in cardiac mortality.
• Increase in capillarization of skeletal muscle.
• Increase in aerobic muscle enzymes.
• Decrease in lactate production for a given maximal oxygen exertion.
• Greater capacity to utilize fatty acids during exercise, with subsequent sparing of glycogen.
• Greater endurance during exercise.
• Beneficial metabolic effects, nutritionally speaking.
• Counteracts obesity.
• Better structure and function of ligaments, joints, and bones.
• Increases the release of endorphins, which produce a sense of pleasure after exercise.
• Amplifies muscle fiber branching.
• Improves heat tolerance through sweating.
• Counteracts osteoporosis, which occurs mainly in women.
• Can normalize glucose tolerance.

Mechanisms Influencing Psychological Health

The following mechanisms influence psychological health as a result of physical activity (Weyerr and Kupfer, 1994):

• Biological mechanisms: An increase in body temperature produces a short-term tranquilizing effect. Regular exercise facilitates adaptation to stress, and adrenal activity increases (adrenaline activation products). Muscle relaxation after exercise releases tension. Neurotransmission of norepinephrine (noradrenaline), serotonin, and dopamine produces a notable improvement in mood.
• Psychological mechanisms: A better physical condition gives a sensation of competence and self-sufficiency. Exercise performed in a calm and conscious manner resembles meditation and induces a state of relaxation. Biofeedback exercises teach individuals to regulate their own activation. Exercise provides distraction, diversion, or escape from unpleasant thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Social reinforcement from practicing groups can lead to psychological improvements. Physical activity competes with anxiety and depression in both cognitive and somatic forms.

Physical activity and sport also develop personal values, such as:

• Cooperation criteria (essential and useful).
• Team spirit.
• Respect for regulations (often critical, as rules are not always the same for everyone).
• Personal competence.

Attitudinal factors that significantly differentiate the practice of sport include:

• Relational inhibition.
• Emotional expression.
• Conformism.
• Spontaneity.
• Willpower.
• Capacity for self-assessment.
• Aggressiveness and combativeness.
• Acceptance of authority.
• Capacity for cooperation.

The main outcome of physical activity is the child's disposition toward configuring other sports activities:

• The organization of a rational everyday life.
• Attitudes that foster positive, holistic efforts.
• The capacity to analyze objectives in both the present and the future.

Primary Education Curriculum and Physical Education

Purposes:

• The major educational aims guide processes that subordinate all school sports activities.
• Ideal human representations give meaning to educational practice.
• The educational purpose at this stage is the comprehensive development of the person through the acquisition of basic learning necessary to integrate into society in a critical and creative manner.
• Primary education requires students to act with autonomy, developing observation, buffering, reflection, and critical judgment, favoring the elaboration of creative works.
• Socialization occurs through interaction, habits, and the acquisition of the knowledge, standards, and values of their own society, promoting relationships with peers and adults, and developing basic attitudes that foster democratic consciousness.

The basic learnings enable students, previously, to acquire:

• Different types of language acquisition.
• Acquisition of concepts, principles, procedures, and attitudes necessary to interpret and intervene critically in the environment.
• Active development of the affective, motor, cognitive, and social experiences necessary to assimilate culture and participate actively in social life, both individually and collectively.

General objectives of the stage:

1. Know and assess your body and physical activity as a means of exploration, and enjoy its motor possibilities, relating to others as a resource for organizing free time.
2. Appreciate physical well-being, manifesting a responsible attitude toward oneself and others, and the effects of known physical exercise, hygiene, healthy eating habits, and postural health.
3. Use physical capacities, motor abilities, and knowledge of the environment and its operation to adapt body movement to the conditions of each circumstance and situation.
4. Acquire, understand, and apply principles and rules to solve motor problems and act effectively and independently in the practice of physical and artistic-expressive activities.
5. Regulate and improve holistic efforts, reaching a level of self-demand in accordance with the nature of one's possibilities and tasks.
6. Use the expressive resources of body movement in a creative and aesthetic way, communicating sensations, emotions, and feelings.
7. Participate in physical and sports activities by sharing projects, establishing cooperative relationships to achieve common goals, resolving conflicts through dialogue, and avoiding discrimination based on personal, gender, social, or cultural characteristics.
8. Know and value the diversity of physical and sports activities, games, and dance as cultural elements, showing a critical attitude both as participant and spectator.

Curriculum Structure: Three Cycles

• First cycle (a period of adaptation to the school environment), ages 6-8.
• Second cycle (considered a consolidation period in which school learning is strengthened, relationships among peers are developed, and basic technical skills are reinforced), ages 8-10.
• Third cycle (involves the acquisition of extensive knowledge, consolidation of basic learning, and considerable autonomy with respect to the teacher), ages 10-12.

In general, the aim is to give students a greater number of possibilities, motor patterns, and resources that serve as a foundation for later specific adaptations to concrete circumstances.

Physical Education in Primary Education: Characteristics

• The area of physical education understands the educational body and human movement as a whole, not only the action on the field but also the knowledge and favorable attitudes toward oneself, one's body, and physical and sports activities in general, including both motor and instrumental efficiency and the expressive aspects of human movement.
• Physical education aims to provide students with greater body awareness and the development of optimized physical capacities, using human movement as a basic instrument.
• Through movement, the individual acquires habits, techniques, and body skills, from the most elementary everyday skills to the more sophisticated and spectacular, such as dance.
• The epistemological perspective of physical education is the scientific objective of the development of motor behaviors and the human body, whose final goal is human improvement, achieved through the body.
• The educational motor objective tends to: improve the functioning of the human body, providing greater psychophysical well-being and raising the level of quality of life; develop the individual's body abilities that allow greater performance capacity, expressive capacity, and recreational ability, thereby raising their level of physical culture.

Objectives:

1. Know and assess your body and physical activity as a means of exploration, and enjoy its motor possibilities, relating to others as a resource for free time.
2. Appreciate physical well-being, manifesting a responsible attitude toward oneself and others, and the effects of known physical exercise, hygiene, healthy eating habits, and postural health.
3. Use physical capacities, motor abilities, and knowledge of the environment and its operation to adapt body movement to the conditions of each circumstance and situation.
4. Acquire, understand, and apply principles and rules to solve motor problems and act effectively and autonomously in the practice of physical and artistic-expressive activities.
5. Independently engage in physical activities requiring a holistic level of effort, ability, or strength, with emphasis on effort.
6. Regulate and improve holistic efforts, reaching a level of self-demand in accordance with the nature of one's possibilities and tasks, and developing attitudes of tolerance toward one's own and others' possibilities and limitations.
7. Use the expressive resources of body movement in a creative and autonomous way, communicating sensations, emotions, and feelings.
8. Develop individual initiative and teamwork habits, respecting the rules established in advance.
9. Participate in physical and sports activities by sharing projects, establishing cooperative relationships to achieve common goals, resolving conflicts through dialogue, and avoiding discrimination based on personal characteristics, gender, social, or cultural factors.
10. Know and value the diversity of physical and sports activities, games, and dance as cultural elements, showing a critical attitude both as participant and spectator.
11. Use sports activities in a natural and responsible manner, recognizing the value of the natural environment and contributing to its protection and improvement.
12. Promote reading comprehension as an exchange of information, and understand the rules and instructions of the game.
13. Use information and communication technologies as a support resource for learning.

Physical Performance, Self-Concept, Social Status, and Body Image

Psychomotor performance influences the estimates and self-assertion of the individual, and therefore the overall personality of the student. In the vitality of childhood, increased movement, strength, and driving ability favor a strong economy and a positive self-concept. Physical and motor ability can strengthen a child's self-esteem, contributing to appreciation from peers and the ability to make decisions within the group, friends, or team. Research confirms that social acceptance and sympathy among school-age children depend largely on their physical strength and sports performance.

Children who are highly skilled in sports enjoy greater social acceptance and consideration and usually take on leadership roles in adolescence. Conversely, children who lack motor skills may experience feelings of inferiority, low self-esteem, and frustration, leading to compensatory behaviors such as withdrawal, aggression, or other disruptive patterns. These patterns, if persistent, can be neutralized through positive reinforcement of body image through physical activity.

Physical Growth and Functional Development

A notable characteristic of the child is the progressive structural and functional change of the body: size, weight, length, and so on, which evolve over the years. There are always individual differences in physical growth, so no two students' bodies are identical, although many pass through similar stages.

A secondary classification of features based on the predominance of different body types:

• Ectomorph (longilineal, leptosomatic): students in whom thinness and delicacy predominate.
• Mesomorph (athletic): marked by well-developed muscles and a compact body conformation.
• Endomorph (pyknic): characterized by a predominance of fat accumulation.

These three types of children show somewhat different motor actions, although this also occurs in children and adults in general.

Adipose Tissue

Adipose tissue increases throughout childhood. From the eighth year, subcutaneous fat progressively increases, and in some cases early signs of adolescence may appear. This increase, due to various causes, may result in obesity or overweight, which decisively influences motor development. Among the main factors are inadequate diet and child inactivity. Obesity deserves special attention, as there is a high probability that an obese child will become an obese adult.

Bone Tissue

Bones contain ossification centers that favor the development of the skeleton, which is characteristic of childhood. Inactivity has no favorable effects, whereas physical activity promotes better bone mineralization.

Muscle Tissue

During normal growth, muscles develop in proportion to the use that the body makes of them. Muscle growth should show a progressive trend parallel to the increase in stature. Strength is a key factor in basic physical fitness in children.

Growth by Age

• Ages 6 to 8: Students are in a period of stable and progressive physical growth. This is a time of consolidating basic motor patterns, which allows them to apply these skills in various situations and games. Growth in height slows compared to the previous stage, but there is a renewed phase of growth in width (a second biological lengthening), so children at this age are morphologically well-proportioned and show balance and vigor.
• Ages 8 to 10: Growth is slower than in previous years, and the child spends a large amount of energy on various activities. This leads to a high level of energy, which can result in fatigue and illness. In this stage, a considerable increase in vitality occurs, with marked differences between boys and girls. From age 8, with proper practice, aerobic capacity and cardiac muscle hypertrophy are stimulated. Social risks stem from immaturity when entering the child section.
• Ages 10 to 12: Signs of pre-puberty begin to appear. This phenomenon brings changes to levels that will contribute to significant body transformations in the child. This moment, known as the growth spurt, causes a considerable number of centimeters to be added within a few years.

Changes in morphology will have different effects in boys and girls. Up to this period, it is generally more or less similar, but from this point dramatic changes in body proportions occur. These changes and differences are due to hormonal activity, with girls showing earlier maturation than boys.

Although children show physiological levels similar to adults, they differ in key points. Teachers must take into account the nature of holistic efforts when scheduling activities for their students. The characteristics of children require their own adaptations, which allow holistic efforts to be different from those of adults. Children show greater capacity in energy production systems, enabling them to work for longer periods, with more intensity and speed.