The appeal of and interest in Nordic walking in the opinion of 9-18-year-old pupils from selected Tricity schools

Abstract

Background: The purpose of the research was to check opinions of students of various stages of education in the Pomeranian province about the attractiveness of Nordic Walking in comparison with other activities.Material/Methods: About 500 intentionally selected students participated in the survey. These were students of 11-18 years of age. Half of them participated in Nordic walking PE lessons. The researched students’ schools were localized in the Pomeranian province in Poland. Methods of a diagnostic survey using two questionnaires were applied. The first one was used to assess the level of students’ physical activity and was also used to research health behaviours of children and adolescents in Europe (HBSC). The second one - our own - was created to asses the attractiveness of Nordic walking. In the first part, the subjects ranked Nordic walking in comparison with other forms of physical activity. In the second part, they declared eagerness to attend such lessons.Results: The collected data imply a vast diversity of students’ opinions about the attractiveness of Nordic walking in comparison with other forms of physical activity and indicate the need to do research in the area of students’ preferences in planning PE lessons at school.Conclusions: It seems that in subsequent years of education, NW will gain followers among this group because it is a natural form of movement, whose health effects are starting to be seen not only by teachers but also by students