EARLY SPORTING ACTIVITY AS A PRECURSOR TO ALL ROUND HEALTH OF SCHOOL CHILDREN IN IFELODUN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, KWARA STATE.

Abstract

This study investigated early sporting as a precursor to all round health of school children in Ifelodun Local Government Area, Kwara State. Descriptive research design of survey type was employed. The population for this study consists of all teachers in basic school in the study area. Multistage sampling procedures of stratified, purposive and random sampling techniques were employed to select 397 respondents. A researcher structured questionnaire was used for this study. The instrument was validated by experts in the department of Health promotion and Environmental Health Education University of Ilorin. The reliability level of the instrument was established through test re-test method using Pearson Product Moment. A correlation coefficient of 0.87r was obtained. The instrument was administered by the researchers and 3 trained research assistants. An inferential statistics of chi square (x2) was used to test the formulated hypotheses set for the study at 0.05 alpha level. The result of the findings revealed that mental health, physical fitness and level of social interaction have significant influence on all round health of school children in the study area. The study therefore, recommends that parents should encourage their children to participate in sports at early stage of their lives which would go a long way to improve their mental and social well being.