Efeitos da natação em parâmetros de saúde de crianças e adolescentes com excesso de peso corporal

Abstract

The change in the lifestyle of the population in recent decades has increased obesity worldwide, affecting children and adolescents and becoming a public health problem. An alternative to reduce obesity problems is the practice of physical exercise, and swimming can be an important tool in the treatment of this disease. However, little is known about how different methods of teaching swimming can affect the health of children and adolescents. Objective: To compare two methods of teaching swimming in health parameters of obese children. Methods: Quantitative experimental research involving children from the Project to Combat Childhood Obesity in the city of Sorriso-MT. Data from 34 children/adolescents, aged between 7 and 15 years, male and female, who were overweight or obese, were analyzed before and after 24 to 28 sessions of practical swimming classes, twice a week. The project classes used two swimming teaching methods, one with a recreational training approach (TR) and the other with a traditional training approach (TT) to teach crawl and backstroke, and the other a playful approach. Before and after the class period, all participants were evaluated regarding: anthropometric characteristics, glycemia and lipid profile. For the analysis of chronic effects, a Two-Way Anova (group and time factors) was used. Results: significant results were found for height: TR PRE (150.10 ± 11.39), POST (153.30 ± 11.74), TT PRE (145.16 ± 12.29), POST (148.11 ± 12.57) (p= <0.001) and for body mass: TR PRE (58.10 ± 16.71) POST (60.98 ± 18.02) TT PRE (53.21 ± 15.05), POST (56.99 ± 16.68) (p= <0.001). In the biochemical variables, significant results were found for glucose: TR PRE (86.49 ± 8.14), POST (87.28 ± 7.95), TT PRE (85.73 ± 8.05), POST (82. 42 ± 5.58) (p= <0.037). For triglycerides there was a difference between the groups TR PRE (117.35 ± 73.85), POST (133.04 ± 104.54), TT PRE (90.20 ± 36.51), POST (92.03 ± 30 .83) (p=<0.000*). Conclusion: There was an increase in body mass and height, however these changes are linked to growth, since the studied public are children and adolescents. No alterations were observed in BMI and fat percentage, indicating that recreational and traditional methods do not affect these variables differently, but they were maintained and this can be an important factor for health. The reduction of glucose in the TR group indicates that swimming can be an effective strategy for glycemic control in overweight and obese children and adolescents.