Flexibility analysis in schoolchildren

Abstract

Flexibility being an important component of physical fitness related to health has the present study as an objective, to analyze research on the levels of flexibility of school children and adolescents. The study is a review of the literature. The search for articles was carried out in the Google Academic database, through the following parameters: physical fitness, school health and flexibility, between 2006 and 2015. After the elimination of the articles that did not deal with the topic, 16 studies were selected, who composed this review. In the literature, the students had mean values ​​of height and body mass over the ages. Still, the flexibility showed tendency of decline throughout the ages, for the masculine sex as for the feminine one. In addition, this review confirms that flexibility is an important component of physical fitness related to health indicators for children and adolescents. Also, in the adult phase the schoolchildren become less active and sedentary, consequently they reduce the flexibility of the body, thus harming their health. It is hoped that the information gathered on the characteristics of the physical quality of the flexibility of schoolchildren, provide a better understanding of the relation of growth during the school phase with the changes of this physical quality, as well as to increase the knowledge of educators in the school and scientific area on the health status of students.