The Effects of Swimming on Body Posture in Preschool Age Children
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59519/mper6107Keywords:
swimming, body posture, preschool childrenAbstract
In this study we analyzed the effects of swimming on the posture of preschool children. The sample for this study consisted of 153 preschool boys and girls children aged 4-6 years (standard deviation= 1.1 years) living in Canton Sarajevo and divided into two groups of boys and girls, with one attended swimming school (n=61) and other did not (n=92). In order to evaluate the postural status, we used a reduced Napoleon Wolanski method with eight variables for the observed body parts: assessment of head posture (HPA), assessment of shoulder posture (SPA), assessment of scapular posture (SBPA), assessment of chest posture (CPA), scoliotic posture (SCP), assessment of abdominal posture (APA), assessment of leg posture (LPA), and assessment of foot posture (FPA). The results indicated a great effect of swimming on posture. We concluded the paper with some suggestions on how to incorporate swimming programs into regular school curricula.
References
Aksamit, D., Sidor, T., Gądek, A., & Jankowicz-Szymańska, A. (2019). The impact of 60-minute swimming training on the quality of body posture and the level of balance of young adults. Health Promotion & Physical Activity, 4(3), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0012.8374
Kozinoga M.,Stoliński L., Korbel K., Politarczyk K., Piotr Janusz, and Kotwicki T. 2022. “Regular School Sport versus Dedicated Physical Activities for Body Posture—A Prospective Controlled Study Assessing the Sagittal Plane in 7–10-Year-Old Children.” Journal of Clinical Medicine 11(5):4–11. doi: 10.3390/jcm11051255h.
Łubkowska, W., Paczyńska-Jędry cka, M., & Eider, J. (2014). The significance of swimming and corrective exercises in water in treatment of postural deficits and scoliosis. In Central European Journal of Sport Sciences and Medicine | (Vol. 6, Issue 2).
Maniu, E. A., Maniu, D. A., Grosu, V. T., & Grosu, F. E. (2021). Does swimming exercises improve posture for blind and visually impaired children ?13(1), 11–15.
Martens, J., Figueiredo, P., & Daly, D. (2014). Electromyography in the four competitive swimming strokes : A systematic review. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2014.12.003
Milošević Z, Obradović B. Postularni satus dece novosadskih predškolskih ustanova uzrasta 7 godina. Journal of the Anthropological Society of Serbia. 2008;43:301-309
Muftić M, Sarić S, Mioković M, Torlaković A. Efekti kombinovanog pro-grama vježbi u vodi i korektivnih vježbi na poboljšanje posture djece predškolske dobi. Zbornik radova 4. Kongresa fi zijatara Bosne i Hercegov-ine sa međunarodnim učešćem. Banja Luka. 2012
Paskaleva, R. (2017). Isometric training and swimming in children with spinal deformities. Isometric Training and Swimming in Children with Spinal Deformities, 112–120.
Stoychevski, M. (2021). Survey of the experts ’ opinion on the therapeutic effect of swimming. 19(2013), 515–519. https://doi.org/10.15547/tjs.2021.s.01.078
Taşkıran, Ö. Ö. (2020). Rehabilitation in adult spinal deformity. In Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Vol. 66, Issue 3, pp. 231–243). https://doi.org/10.5606/tftrd.2020.6225
Tate, A., Sarver, J., DiPaola, L., Yim, J., Paul, R., & Thomas, S. J. (2020). Changes in clinical measures and tissue adaptations in collegiate swimmers across a competitive season. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 29(11), 2375–2384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jse.2020.03.028
Torlaković A, Simikić I, Muftić M. The effects of the combined exercise in water and on land on body posture of preschool children. 17th Congress of ECSS 2012, Bruges, Belgium;17:314
Torlaković, A., Muftić, M, Radjo, I.,Talovic, M., Mahmutovic, I. (2014). Evolution of SportsMedical Team Management in the Program of Posture Correction in Children. Materia Socio Medica 26(2):104. doi: 10.5455/msm.2014.26.104-108.
Vranesic-Hadzimehmedovic, D., & Memisevic, H. (2018). THE EFFECTS OF FOUR-MONTH EXERCISE PROGRAM IN IMPROVING THE GROSS MOTOR SKILLS OF STUDENTS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT. Homo Sporticus, (2), 36-40.
Vranešić Hadžimehmedović, D., Likić, S., Biščević, I. (2023). FINE MOTOR SKILLS AND BMI ARE GOOD PREDICTORS OF ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE IN COLLEGE STUDENTS. Multidisciplinarni Pristupi u Edukaciji i Rehabilitaciji, 5(6), 140-146. https://doi.org/10.59519/mper5208
Waller, B., Ogonowska-Slodownik, A., Vitor, M., Lambeck, J., Daly, D., Kujala, U. M., & Heinonen, A. (2014). Effect of Therapeutic Aquatic Exercise on Symptoms and Function Associated With Lower Limb Osteoarthritis: Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis Background. Current management of osteoarthritis (OA) focuses on pain control. https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/94/10/1383/2735524
Wolansky N. (1975). Tjelesni rast i razvoj s praćenjem držanja tijela. Priručnik za nastavnike, Varšava.
Zarzeczny, R., Kuberski, M., & Suliga, E. (2022). The Effect of Three-Year Swim Training on Cardio-Respiratory Fitness and Selected Somatic Features of Prepubertal Boys. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19127125
Zuzana, M., Dragounová, Z., & Ph, D. (2022). Teaching children to swim at a younger and older school age for the purpose of strengthening the body.
Zaina, F., Donzelli, S., Lusini, M., Minnella, S., & Negrini, S. (2015). Swimming and spinal deformities: A cross-sectional study. Journal of Pediatrics, 166(1), 163–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2014.09.024
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Damira Vranešić Hadžimehmedović, Edin Mirvić, Semir Mašić, Amila Hodžić, Azur Kuduzović (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
