Background and Study Aim. There is a void in the literature comparing the fitness effects of housework-based exercise (HBE) and conventional exercise (CE), including studies that adapt housework into an exercise program. This study examines the effectiveness of HBE and CE on adolescent learners' health-related fitness (HRF) and compares the effectiveness of the two exercises. Material and Methods. This study uses a parallel-group, randomized controlled trial with 120 adolescent learners; 60 are in the HBE group, and 60 are in the CE group. The participants in the HBE group exercised using housework activities, while the participants in the CE group exercised by doing push and pull, squats, lunges, leaps and jumps, planks, etc. The participants in both groups trained for at least an hour every weekday for 12 weeks under the supervision of qualified fitness instructors. Results. The findings show that HBE improves the fitness levels of adolescent learners, albeit it has no significant improvement in their BMI. Furthermore, HBE significantly improves the cardiorespiratory fitness of females more than males. Finally, CE outperforms the HBE in producing more significant and favorable fitness effects. Conclusions. When planned, implemented, and monitored carefully as an exercise program, doing housework is just as good as doing traditional exercise for keeping or improving adolescent learners’ fitness. Furthermore, the findings indicate that HBE may be more appropriate for females because it involves household-related tasks that they traditionally perform.However, CE produces more positive and significant fitness effects. Thus, teachers can use HBE in the remote exercise activities of their learners along with CE.

In this time of pandemic where the balance of wellness dimensions is disrupted, neglecting any dimension can impact adversely on the people’s life most especially those who are deprived including their coping strategies and ultimately their survival. A key factor is to ensure that services and policies are in synched with the state of wellness dimensions. This study examined the state of wellness of the thirty purposively selected families in five slum communities in Cebu, Philippines in times of pandemic. One-on-one semi-structured interview was used in order to gather significant data. Discourse analysis was applied which brought about their tales of survival in synched with their eight wellness dimensions. The findings elaborated that the pandemic and the different mitigation measures to curb it, had taken a heavy toll on the wellness of Filipino families in slum communities. However, this did not topple their resiliency and survivability as the social services and other crisis mitigation policies and strategies afforded by the national government and private sectors, albeit insufficient, including the peculiar Filipino attributes and individual initiatives they manifested and done were instrumental. Furthermore, noting that the essential support and services provided for the families in the slum communities were not holistic enough to address the multi-faceted issues hounding their different wellness dimensions, hence, stemming some non-conforming behaviors despite strict quarantine measures. This study recommends that pandemic mitigation measures including essential support and services be reviewed and enhanced in high consideration of human wellness dimensions for them to be more inclusive and holistic.

The study determined the potential factors in the engagement of students’ physical activity beyond regular physical education class. Participants were 476 secondary students aged between 16 and 22 from randomly selected public and private schools of Metro Cebu, Philippines. Cross-sectional survey design was used to examine the potential factors of students in engaging physical activity such as autonomy support, behavioural regulations, and intentions outside school. The study highlighted on the presence of physical learning resources or equipment as perceived by students as strong support in the continuous engagement in physical activity. Moreover, internal regulation is more accepted reason for students in allowing themselves to participate in any physical activity. Further, the intention of the students in partaking in physical activity is a form of leisure time for them. It is concluded that students and/or individuals will participate or engage in physical activity if they perceived supported and motivated. Additionally, it is recommended to provide and/or maintain high quality P.E. learning resources and fortify the engagement of students in physical activity in school through physical education subject to ensure higher transcendence at home and in the community. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0743/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

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