M.V. Osychenko, associate professor, Ph.D.
V.S. Skripkin, associate professor, Ph.D.
Stavropol state agrarian University, Stavropol

Key words: students' health, educational process, adaptation to educational loads, physical fitness, physical working capacity, laminaria (sea girdle).

Relevance. Students’ health is a prerequisite to study at a university; meanwhile the results of medical examinations indicate a high percentage of students with health disorders.

Having entered university young people merge into a new environment, their lifestyle changes, and new interpersonal relationships are being formed. The educational process requires from students significant energy expenditure to cope with physical and mental loads. The adaptation of students to educational loads proceeds with difficulties, the central nervous system is under serious stress, which leads to fatigue and reduced activity of body’s protective systems, thereby reducing health. One of the reasons for this lays in the sedentary lifestyle and a systematic noncompliance of the regimes of work, rest and nutrition.

The students with health disorders or those who often suffer from acute respiratory diseases and colds particularly need physical activity which beneficially affects their weakened bodies.

In the recent years, teachers of the physical education and sports department noted that first-year students are far behind from the average regarding their physical and functional parameters and cannot manage physical loads stipulated by the curriculum.

Therefore, the study of students’ health and their adaptation to the educational process of physical culture in the university is highly relevant.

In this regard, on the basis of the control standards specified in the educational program, the level of physical working capacity and physical fitness of first-year students of the main and preparatory departments was tested in October of the academic year 2012/13, that enabled to determine their physical and functional state as a whole.

The tests showed that 42% of young male and 48% of young female first year students had an average or below average level of physical fitness, and practically all parameters of physical working capacity corresponded to the weak level of their functioning.

We also studied the structure of general disease incidence of 1705 first-year students admitted to Stavropol state agrarian University in 2012/2013 academic year. The diseases of the cardiovascular system were most frequent, amounting to 23.6 % -19.4 %, followed by eye diseases (17.6 %) and diseases of the digestive system (16.3 %). The share of other diseases was as follows: diseases of the endocrine system – 7.1 %; respiratory – 3.1 %; kidneys and urinary tract – 28 %; ENT – 2.4 %; nervous system – 3.9 %; other – 2.9 % (Fig.1).

Special attention among all diseases should be paid to the endocrine diseases, in particular the diseases associated with the dysfunction of the thyroid gland.

Iodine deficiency in the human body leads to metabolic disorders, decreased in immunity, mental and physical working capacity. This state is regarded as a premorbid one which can result in a variety of diseases.

According to numerous investigations, the problem of iodine deficiency is extremely important for all people, and especially this trace element is essential for growth and physical development of children and adolescents (I.I. Dedov, 2000; V.M. Krasnov, 2000; N.Yu. Sviridenko, 2001; M.V. Bagdanyants, 2005; A.I. Plotnikova, 2005; D.A. Bezrukova, 2006; O.V. Dukhareva, 2009, et al).

It has been convincingly demonstrated in the works of Russian scientists (V.V. Nasolodin, 1997; S.M. Voronin, 1997; V.Ya. Rusin, 1999; O.A. Gromova, 2000; A.V. Skal’ny, 2000; V.I. Nekrasov, 2006; A.V. Skal’ny, 2006 et al) that metabolism of the most important trace elements is enhanced in case of significant physical loads, which means that the athletes’ need in these elements is much higher compared to other population groups.

V.V. Nasolodin, V.Ya. Rusin, and Yu.A. Dyachenko recommend preventing the trace element deficiency in the bodies of athletes by introducing into their diet necessary food additives.

Given the endemicity of the Stavropol region regarding the iodine trace element, we made a guess about the deterioration of the health of young people living in the region. We believe one of the reasons for this is the deficiency of trace elements, particularly organic iodine, in the bodies of young people.

Hypothesis. We assume that physical fitness and physical working capacity of young students can be enhanced by increasing their sports activity with an adequate introduction of brown seaweed laminaria to their diet.

Laminaria (sea girdle) is a natural food rich in nutrients essential for man and contains up to 3% protein bioactive substances of natural origin, including amino acids, macronutrients and trace elements. This seaweed prevents the development of iodine deficiency disorders and naturally supplies iodine in the body.

The purpose of the study was to study the dynamics of physical working capacity and physical fitness indices of female students attending fitness aerobics section classes along with the introduction to the diet of laminaria in recommended doses.

Materials and methods. The experiment was carried out at the sports and recreation complex of the department of physical education and sports of Stavropol State Agrarian University from November 2012 to May 2013. Female first-year students attending fitness aerobics classes 3 times a week and related by health to the main group were examined. They were divided by the analogue principle (age, weight index, height, body mass) into two groups of 17 persons each. As agreed upon with a physician, the groups were formed of female student volunteers who did not have contraindications to the use of laminaria.

The diet of the control group did not contain seafood and laminaria. The physical activity of all probands was the same during the entire period of observation.

Laminaria was taken by ½ teaspoon of powder once a day for two months, then after a 30-day break the students of the experimental group continued to take it for another two months by the same dose.

The indicators of physical working capacity and fitness were registered at the beginning of the experiment and one month after it.

During the study, we determined physical working capacity using conventional functional tests such as: Cooper test (overall fitness), 12 minute maximum running test on an exercise bicycle; Ruffier-Dickson index – repeated 30 squats in 45 seconds (the rate of pulse rate recovery after a dosed load) – inverse relationship was used, the greater the index, the worse; the coefficient of endurance (Kvas formula) characterizing the state of the cardiovascular system, an integral parameter which includes HR, systolic and diastolic pressure and its normal value is 16 points. Low or high values of the latter parameter show increased or decreased activity of the cardiovascular system, respectively.

Physical fitness was evaluated using the following tests: 100 m dash (s); push-ups (number of reps); sit-ups in 30 s (number of reps); standing long jump (cm).

Results and discussion. The initial parameters of physical working capacity of the first-year students were at the same level (9.33±0.232 and 8.067±0.267 in the experimental and control groups, respectively) that was lower than their average functional capabilities (Ruffier-Dickson index).

The initial values in the Cooper test were also at the same level and equaled 4382±8.905 and 4358±7.832 in the experimental and control groups, respectively, that indicated the satisfactory working capacity of the students.

The Kvas index exceeded the average standard value both in the experimental (22.07± 0.144) and control (22.35±0.242) groups, which indicated the weakening of the cardiovascular system.

The tests were carried out in October 2013.

The Ruffier-Dickson index changed in both groups after six months of the experiment: in the control group it increased by 18.2% (p>0.05), whereas in the experimental group its increment was higher and equalled 22.9 % (p>0.05) compared to the initial values.

Similar results were shown in the Cooper test. There was a significant improvement of 18.3% compared to the initial values in the experimental group where students took laminaria. In the control group this index grew by 15.8 % (p>0.05).

During the study, the values of Kvas index in the experimental group decreased by 24.7 %, gradually approaching the standard physiological value, that indicated the positive effect of laminaria; in the control group this index reduced by 19.3 %.

The initial parameters of physical fitness in both of the groups were approximately at the same level that was somewhat lower than the average one: 100 m dash test – 17.09±0.040 and 17.18±0.029 in the experimental and control groups respectively; push-up test – 8.467±0.274 and 8.067±0.267; standing long jumps – 170.2±0.987 and 172.1±0.967; sit-up test – 15.20±0.223 and 15.93±0.267 in the experimental and in the control groups accordingly.

After six months of the experiment the indicators of physical development increased significantly both in the control and experimental groups. The results of the 100 m dash test enhanced by 5.6 % and 4.6 % (p>0.05) in the experimental and control groups, respectively. The results of push-ups also improved significantly in both groups, by 39 % and 33.2 % (p>0.05) in the experimental and control groups, respectively. The results of the sit-up test increased significantly by 30.1 % and 25.1% (p>0.05) in the experimental and control group, respectively. The enhancement of the results of standing long jumps was 11.5 % and 8.5 % (p>0.05) in the experimental and control group, respectively.

These data lead to the conclusion that the proposed sports and fitness technologies (fitness aerobics) result in a significant qualitative and quantitative improvement of the majority of investigated parameters of physical fitness (Table 1) and physical working capacity (Table 2).

Table 1. Results of physical fitness tests of the control and experimental groups before and after the experiment

Table 2. Results of tests of physical working capacity of the control and experimental groups before and after the experiment

Laminaria introduced to the diet of female student-athletes provided an increase in the development of indicators of speed-strength and strength qualities much more as compared to the students who attended aerobics classes and did not use food additives. There were not any significant differences between the groups in the development of speed parameters.

The similar result was obtained for the overall endurance of the first-year students.

It should be noted that, according to the records of the medical center, the students of the experimental group were seldom sick during the experiment (16 %), whereas the students of the control group missed classes due to illness more often (21 %).

Conclusion. The obtained results suggest that the first-year students from the iodine deficient region had the parameters of physical fitness and working capacity lower by 23 – 27 % compared to the average ones of their peers.

The presented data show that physical qualities were developed and improved in all the students who participated in the experiment. However, the physical parameters of the students who took laminaria increased more essentially compared to the students who did not use this food additive.

The physical working capacity as an indicator of body’s functionality of the students of the experimental group was higher compared to the control group. The index of general endurance determined by the Cooper test increased by 18 % and 15.8 % in the experimental and control groups respectively; the increment of the Ruffier-Dickson index (the rate of pulse rate recovery after a dosed load) was 22.9 % and 18.2 % in the experimental and control groups, respectively. After the experiment the values of the Kvas index (state of the cardiovascular system) were significantly lower compared to their initial level, by 19.3 % and 24.7 % in the control and experimental groups respectively, that confirms the positive effect of laminaria on the bodies of students involved in sports activity.

Thus, our hypothesis that the levels of physical fitness and physical working capacity can be good in case of organizing physical education classes on the basis of sports and fitness technologies (fitness aerobics) with an adequate intake of essential trace elements and organic iodine by the involved ones, is correct. The experimental results prove that laminaria can be used for correction of physical fitness indices and adaptation of university students to physical loads.

References

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