Abstract
Exercise education campaigns without direct instruction have been practiced in various
regions. However, there are little studies on educational campaign for children in local community
in Japan. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of educational campaign using only
information service on physical fitness of children, and to evaluate the exercise education campaign.
This campaign conducted on 188 primary school students from fifth to sixth grade for one
year. The information was provided about calisthenics training and coordination training methods,
and no direct instructions about these trainings were provided.
Before and after campaign period, physical fitness tests (Japan Fitness Test of MEXT; grip
strength, 30-s sit-ups, flexibility, repetitive side stepping, 20m shuttle running, 50m sprint, standing
long jump, and softball throwing) were measured.
As a result, physical fitness of cognitive group who know about the contents of campaign
well increased more than that of non-cognitive group, and significant interactions were observed in
the following tests; grip strength, flexibility, 20m shuttle running, standing long jump, and softball
throwing. Furthermore, significant improvement was observed in the habit of physical exercise of
cognitive group. These results indicated that an exercise education campaign providing information
about calisthenics training and coordination training methods was quite effective in a development
of physical fitness of children.
