Vladimir Živanović

The subject of this study is the operational plans and programs of a physical education course in a short period of time and how they affect the anthropometric characteristics and anthropomotor abilities of the youths of this age who are engaged in a physical activity, that is, who are engaged in some kind of sport recreationally and those who are not physically active. The overall objective of the study is the comparison of results in order to determine the effect of sports activities on the secondary school population and the course of teaching in the school itself. The research was of a transversal character because it was aimed to determine the current state of the selected sample. By hypothesizing, we examine the general assumption that, as for the anthropometric characteristics, there will be no significant differences between young athletes and non-athletes, whereas, in regard to anthropomotor abilities, there will be considerable differences, and even greater if the youth are engaged in sports for a long time. The results of anthropometric characteristics and anthropomotor abilities were related, i.e. they were in synergy. Based on the subject, objective and tasks of the study, the population from which a sample of respondents is taken is defined as a population of young people of secondary school education (the 2nd year) attending the Polytechnic School in the city of Kragujevac, divided into two sub-samples: the sub-sample of young athletes and the sub-sample of young non-athletes. Each sub-sample contained 30 respondents, which made a total sample of 60 respondents. On the day of measurement, the respondents were 17 years and +/-6 months old, all clinically healthy and without physical disabilities. The average age of the sub-samples was in the range of +/-6 months. Regarding the sample of variables, i.e. as a part of the assessment of anthropometric characteristics of the young, the measurements were carried out as follows: longitudinal dimensionality of skeleton – body height, volume of body – body mass and, thereafter, the BMI, or body mass index, known also as the Quetlet index, was treated. To assess the anthropomotor abilities of the young, the measurements were carried out using the Eurofit battery of tests, and the criterion for their selection was the relevance of the researches of a number of authors (mentioned later in this paper): the flamingo balance test MFBT, hand tapping test MHTT, standing long jump test MSLJT, sit-ups test MSUT and MBFRT agility test, that is back and forth10 x 5m running. The statistical significance of the differences in the arithmetical means of the compared samples was assessed by the t-test for small dependant samples, at the level of statistical significance of 0.05. In order to protect the level of significance of the t-test in this research, the initial value of 0.05 was divided by the number of tests, which is, in the first case, 3 and 5 in the second, and the resulting level of statistical significance is therefore 0.01. In these kinds of researches, this is a generally accepted procedure. The research results show that we can accept the hypothesis regarding the anthropometric characteristics as well as the anthropomotor abilities of general balance, explosive strength of legs, and endurance strength of the abdominal muscles and running speed, i.e. agility at 0.05 level. The hypothesis regarding the anthropomotor ability of rapid performance of movements with a given amplitude, also at 0.05 level, is rejected. All these indicators were of the same conclusion at the level of significance of 0.01.

Keywords: sport and physical education, anthropometry, anthropomotorics, the youths, evaluation

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