The effect of physical activity and indoor environment on preschool children’s health

Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of physical activity and indoor environment on preschool children’s health.

Subject and Methods: The final sample comprised 126 parents of children of preschool age. An anonymous questionnaire was used in order to investigate the impact of indoor air pollution on the children's health. Data analysis was performed by using descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations with the SPSS 22.0.

Results: The majority of the parents were female (87.3%) at an average age of 31-40 years (73%). Regarding the children, there were an almost equal number of boys and girls and their age ranged between 3 and 6 years old. The children had not shown any signs of emotional or behavioural problems or other issues regarding regular physical functions and they hadn’t shown any problems regarding recreational activities and interaction with friends (90.5%). Cough is a frequent symptom in the case of a common cold (85.7%). There were no statistically significant differences in the parents' responses as far as their children's health dimensions, concerning the availability of an air conditioner at home, the existence of pets and smoking habits in the family environment.

Conclusions: Improving air quality is an extremely complicated issue, since pollutants may be created both indoors and outdoors, which makes it very difficult to decrease them. Yet it still is definitely necessary, given the negative effects of pollution on human health, especially on the more vulnerable groups, such as children.