HEALTH METHODOLOGY FOR REDUCING ANXIETY AND SUPPORTING THE FUNCTIONAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN

Abstract

The health deterioration of children in Ukraine largely depends on such factors as economic instability in the country, environmental pollution, poor nutrition, lack of health intervention. A particularly important factor is the lifestyle. Health is an integral characteristic of an individual and determines the quality of life. Preservation and strengthening of student’s health, the increase of motor activity level, development and further improvement of basic physical qualities are the main tasks of physical education of primary school children and the priority directions of the development of our society. Health-improving, pedagogical and educational tasks should be solved in a complex, only in this case the effective multipurpose influence and development of primary school children will be effective. The purpose of the study – to develop the methodology of using health-improving exercises aimed at reducing the level of anxiety and maintaining the optimal level of the functional state for primary school children during a full-fledged war. Research organization. The study was performed from April 2022 to October 2022 (including the summer holidays) at the premises of General Academic School № 35, Dnipro. The experimental groups consisted of 17 boys and 13 girls; the control groups consisted of 16 boys and 14 girls, who were classified into the main medical group according to the health condition. The developed methodology consists of two blocks that complement each other and thus have a comprehensive impact on the children: theoretical and practical. Results. The data obtained during the research revealed both positive and negative dynamics. The obtained data of the analysis of anxiety according to the Philips psychology test showed very interesting results. Thanks to the developed methodology, such aspects as: experiencing social stress, frustration of the need to achieve success, fear of self-expression and low physiological resistance to stress were eliminated for children. The obtained data will complement the existing ones and will make it possible to contribute to the study. In our research, the data obtained by the Kettle index after the implementation of the developed health-improving methodology were arranged as follows - in the experimental group the indicators increased by 16.72% (p <0.05), and in the control group only by 8.51% (p<0.05). Movement is very important for primary school children and has a positive effect on weight and height. Analysing the data obtained according to the Skibinski index, it was noted that all of them significantly increased, which means the functions of the respiratory and cardiovascular systems of schoolchildren were within the norm and developed in accordance with the laws of child’s age physiology. The data of the Ruffier’s functional test in the control group became lower (position average 55.62% and below average 44.38% level for the assessment of physical performance (p<0.05) under the influence of distance learning, because it led to a sedentary lifestyle. On the contrary, the data of the experimental group improved due to the developed method – the position of the average 71.58% and above the average 28.42% level for the assessment of physical performance (p<0.05). But the experimental groups showed the best result, this is due to the fact that while building the methodology we took into account not only sensitive development, but also those aspects that would motivate children to develop and maintain both mental and physical health. Conclusion. The obtained results testify the effectiveness of developed methodology, which consisted of two blocks with the prioritized use of health-improving exercises as a new tool for the healthy lifestyle formation.