A.A. Marchenko, Ph.D.
I.R. Tarasenko, Ph.D.
Stavropol State Agrarian University, Stavropol, Russia

Key words: balance of physical development, adaptive capabilities, health, cyclical development of health, energy costs, entropic and negentropic energy costs.

Introduction. The balance of human physical development is one of the most important health indicators. Heterochronicity is among the main problems in the development of youth in the second half of the twentieth century. In this context the actual problem is the current study of the effect of the totality of factors of scientific and technical progress on health of young people. The validity of this thesis is clearly illustrated by the processes of acceleration and retardation of physical development of young people. According to the definition of the International Committee for Test Standardization physical development characterizes person’s identity, body, constitution, functionalities of the body, physical working capacity [6]. The harmonious physical development of students depends on the ability of their organism to maintain resistance to exogenous factors, to adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Training activities with the necessity of mastering large amounts of information in time shortage, the need for more knowledge requires more effort from the students. This is one of the reasons for the reduction of motor activity or determination of training classes while studying at the university, which affects their health, harmony of physical development and level of physical fitness [5].

Our data received confirm this trend.

The purpose of the study was to determine the level of harmony of physical development of students of engineering specialities of Stavropol State Agrarian University, as well as the level of their bio-economic psychomotor adaptation.

Materials and methods. Researches were conducted at Stavropol State Agrarian University involving 1-2-year students of engineering specialities.

The following parameters were measured: standing height (cm), length of the upper part of the body (from the top to the navel), length of the lower body (from the navel to the soles of feet). These parameters allow judging the degree of proportionality and harmonious development of the physique of students.

To determine the quantitative and qualitative changes in health and adaptation, we used the technique of bio-economic diagnosis, developed by Professor V.V. Gnevush (1999-2000).

We studied the proportionality and the harmony of development of students according to the laws of the golden section [4, 7]. There were conducted the following actions to determine the harmonious development: 1) measurement of body length using stadiometer; 2) measurement of the length of the upper part of the body (from the head to the navel), using a measuring tape; 3) measurement of the length of the lower part of the body (from the navel to the soles of the feet), using a measuring tape.

Determination of the balance of development of student’s body is determined by the formulas proposed by Zeising:

1. Pr = H / h,

2. Pr = h/h₁,

where Pr is proportionality of the body, H - height, h - lower body length (cm), h1 is upper body length (cm).

Wherein the ratio of the proportions of the harmoniously developed human body should seek the golden section 1,625 (male body proportions vary between H / h = 1, 625, and female - H / h = ⁸/₅= 1.6).

The results were subjected to statistical variation-treatment. It consisted of an analysis and processing by conventional formulas of numerical values combined in groups. The groups of numeric values are compared and contrasted in order to clarify points of difference between them and identify indicators that change in the same direction. The Student’s t test was used to assess statistically significant differences between the data obtained.

Results and discussion. Studies have revealed that some processes of disharmonization not only in physical development but also in reduction of the processes of body adaptation of students of Stavropol State Agrarian University.

While analyzing the obtained results according to the anthropometric characteristics and comparing these results with the results of M. Ghic (1936) we have found the following peculiarities (Table 1).

Table 1. Average ratio of proportions of students of engineering specialities at Stavropol State Agrarian University

As can be seen in Table 1, some processes of acceleration of physical development are observed in modern students. According to M. Ghic (1936) human body develops gradually. He founded that the navel divides the body of a newborn into two equal parts, and only with time, by the 21st year of life, the ratio H/h reaches its final value (1,625). At there is a gradual decrease of this indicator of proportionality with age. Our studies show that the testees in this age group have a degree of harmony and proportion of development of the body, which brings them closer to the golden ratio. It should be noted that the testees are under 21, so the figure of balance is slightly higher. Based on the above, it can be stated that the golden ratio determines acceleration processes specific for our time.

When analyzing the functional test of all students we noted the presence of low health deficit when testing them at rest (0,98 ± 0,02) and a larger deficit after physical activity in 20 knee bends (0,75 ± 0,044). Besides, the afterimpression of psychomotor activity during the functional test also identified the deficit of bio-economic cycle of health development (0,96 ± 0,57) (Table 2).

Table 2. Results of the students’ functional tests

The data presented in Table 2 show that there is a relatively small psychomotor work in the form of 20 knee bends performed by students with extra energy losses contributing to the depletion of their energy capacity, which denotes health deficit. They characterize quantitative and qualitative disharmonious changes in the ratio of physiological parameters of cyclic health development (CHD): an increase of psychosomatic norm violations (mainly physiological) occurs. It is possible that namely these quantitative and qualitative changes in CHD are the main features of the initial stage of latent overwork of adaptation mechanisms of students, which is a consequence of the implementation of training and teaching loads with entropic energy demands in the educational and training process. As a result there is an excise of energy potential in the organism in contravention of necessary progressive expense economization of energy resources for productive activities, both sports and intellectual ones, and the preservation of harmonious physical development. In the context of standard performance of high intellectual and physical activities the disbalance between the entropic and negentropic metabolic costs is progressively growing. The increasing prevalence of entropic energy cost is confirmed by the deficit of efficiency of CHD in relative rest until the active psychomotor activity, and in afterimpression [1]. Thus, the deficit of CHD in the active psychomotor activity is psychophysiological battery of entropic energy cost in relative rest. It is possible that this fact creates the necessary suppositions for the transition of the first stage of latent overwork that characterizes disharmony in the physical development of students, of the second stage with objective evidence of pathological changes in their health status. In order to prevent and eliminate the disharmony in students’ physical development and strengthen their health it is necessary that mental and physical activity fit the degree of increase of the functional status.

From the standpoint of bio-economic development of psychomotor cyclical health the growth of harmony of students’ physical development is defined in quantitative and qualitative features of increasing the efficiency of psychomotor adaptation – the primary mechanism of health promotion as a result of increasing training loads within the negentropic energy cost [3].

To implement this process in physical education classes it is advisable to introduce a methodology of bio-economic psychomotor training effectively developing the skills of harmonious enhancing of psychomotor health adaptation to a wide range of non-specific selective effect improving such health indicators as psycho-emotional attitude, immunobiological barrier, physical development, mental and physical performance, sports harmonious growth.

Complex psychophysical training greatly improves physical development of healthy people and in the presence of pathological alterations of functional or morphological properties of the organism contributes to their recovery to the level of physiological norm [2].

Conclusions. The further study of the problems of harmonization of physical development of today's students and the impact on this process of motor activity is relevant, because it contains important information for employees of higher educational institutions, teachers of physical education, doctors and other professionals.

The results of researches of the degree of harmonious physical development and health level of modern students can justify correction of the methodology of the educational process in higher schools for health prevention and promotion. The use by students of the bioeconomic psychomotor diagnostics CHD system and the bioeconomic management of its psychomotor adaptation in the practice of physical education and sports training will help to maintain and improve health of future professionals with simultaneous harmonization of their physical development.

References

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