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Background. Stress and physical inactivity are one of the most common risk factors among students. Problems of stress, experienced by students, and physical activity and impact on health are extremely important in order to improve students’ quality of life and prevent health problems. Methods. Academic stress was measured using the Konduri academic life stress questionnaire. Physical activity was evaluated by the Godin leisure time physical activity questionnaire. Distress was evaluated by the Reeder stress inventory. Study participants were 448 Lithuanian full-time first and third year bachelor’s students, with ages ranging from 18 to 39 years; average age 20.06 ± 18.04. 38 percent (173) of people under investigation were women, and 62 percent (275) were men. 60 percent (268) of people under investigation were first-year students, 40 percent (180) were third-year students. Results. Physically more active students experience less academic stress than less physically active students. Intense physical activity has the greatest impact on academic stress. Students who engage in intensive physical activity more often, experience less academic stress related to social support, motivation to achieve, training program and training mode, and self-confidence, compared with students who engage in intensive physical activity less often. It was found that women experience more academic stress, related to training program, academic aspirations, and career, compared with men. First-year students experience more academic stress, related to support, motivation to achieve, academic aspirations, self-confidence, and exam anxiety, compared with third-year students. Conclusions. Half of all students go in for sports three or more times a week, a third of students go in for sports less than three times a week, almost one-fifth of students never go in for sports. Increased physical activity is among men, first-year students, compared with women and third-year students. A fifth of students experience stress, almost half of students experience nervous tension; one-third of students do not experience tension and stress. Higher stress, both general and related to academic activities, is felt by women and first-year students, compared with men and third-year students. Keywords: students, physical activity, academic stress, stress.

COVID-19 is an emerging infectious disease, first reported in Wuhan, China. The deadly disease currently known as SARS-CoV-2 can affect everyone regardless of race, gender or age. However, people suffering from underlying medical conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseases are at the biggest risk for developing more intense symptoms and complications. The global challenge in the containment of COVID-19 has led to a massive death rate and resulted in many economic, social, and health burdens around the world, leading to the question of the dynamic of COVID-19 management treatment. Therefore, this paper aimed to systematically review different past and present studies to develop a possible solution on how COVID-19 can be managed and treated. The articles were searched from five online databases: Science Direct, PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and Scopus. The systematic review was guided by the guidelines presented in the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) from 2019–2021. Thirteen articles were included after reviewing seventy-two articles. Three hypotheses guided the study; clinical management, telehealth technology, and performance intelligence as an effective way of managing and controlling COVID-19. The study concludes there is no proven treatment for the virus yet, but clinical treatment, telehealth technology, and performance intelligence can effectively manage and control the virus. It also recommends policymakers should support the development and the implementation of performance intelligence based on the evidence and standardized data available for effective and pandemic resilience health care systems that will address the control and management of the virus. Keywords: SARS2, SARS-CoV-2, Novel Coronavirus, 2019nCoV, COVID-19.

Background. Literature suggests cardiorespiratory fitness as a factor influencing cognitive improvement. The authors of the present study sought to investigate if cardiorespiratory fitness related to cognitive performance after an acute bout of game-based exercise of different intensities in adolescents. Methods. As many as 37 adolescents (24 girls and 13 boys, 15–16 years of age) were assigned to three groups: experimental group 1 (EX 1), experimental group 2 (EX 2), and control (CON) group. The experimental groups experienced different levels of exercise intensity (EX 1 – light intensity, EX 2 – vigorous intensity). The Shuttle Run Test was performed a week before the intervention and VO2peak was calculated. Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) was evaluated before and after the acute intervention. A 2 x 3 repeated-measures ANOVA was used to analyze the SDMT and Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to estimate the relationship between the cognitive performance (SDMT) and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO2peak). Results. Comparing the SDMT scores before and after the intervention, there were no differences found between the three groups. Neither in any of the experimental groups nor in the control group was a relationship between the SDMT score and VO2peak observed. Conclusion. Acute game-based exercise intervention did not prove to improve cognitive performance effectively. The authors of the present paper did not confirm the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive performance in adolescents. Keywords: exercise, cognitive performance, cardiorespiratory fitness.

Background. Negative health-related behaviours among young adults are common worldwide. Most of young males are physically inactive, have poor diets, drink a lot of alcohol or smoke, and such behavior causes physical and mental health disorders (Aubert et al., 2018). Nowadays more mental health problems are diagnosed among young people than a decade. Researchers are trying to determine the causes of harmful behaviour in adults, but the impact of previous physical education on further health-related behaviours in adults has not been studied. Methods. Physical activity, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking was evaluated according to the 2008 US Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviours (Bray et al., 2009). Adherence to a healthy eating pattern was evaluated using the Mediterranean diet adherence screener (MEDAS). Psychological distress was assessed using the six-item Kessler scale (Kessler et al., 2003). Results. Nearly half of young adults were physically inactive, ate poorly, had harmful habits, one of ten had high psychological distress. Two thirds of the respondents participated in sports in childhood, 61% of young people liked the physical education lessons, 44% of them attended every PE lesson. Lower distress was significantly associated with better nutrition, higher physical activity, lower alcohol consumption, and smoking. Also, significant associations were found between higher alcohol consumption and more frequent smoking. Higher incomes, younger age, better perception and attendance of PE classes in the past, active lifestyle in childhood and adulthood are the predictive factors of more favourable health-related behaviours and better mental health. Conclusions. Harmful health-related behaviours are prevalent among young adults, one of tenth has high psychological distress. Although the majority of young adults were active in childhood, the percentage of active adults decreases significantly. More favourable health-related behaviours are related to less distress. Better economic status, better PE experiences in childhood, sports activities in adulthood lead to better health-related behaviours and less distress. Keywords: young adults, health-related behaviours, mental health, physical education.

Background. A need for other methods of hamstring strengthening are thus warranted with the main aim of reducing the risk of injury during the subsequent intense athletic activities. The study aimed to examine changes in hamstring strength in response to high velocity elastic band training when incorporated into regular training routine of football players. Methods. Research participants were professional top level football players (age 23.1 ± 5.7 years; weight 77.2 ± 7.7 kg, training experience 14.1 ± 5.8 years). In the pre-season, in addition to their routine training, the experimental group performed hamstring curls at maximal intensity while lying prone three times per week for five weeks, while control group continued their routine training. Concentric knee torque at 60°/s and 180°/s angular velocities, countermovement jump height, 30m sprint running performance from standing and flying start, and knee flexion-extension movement frequency were measured before and after the 5 weeks of training. Results. Hamstring curl frequency during lying prone increase by 10.5 % (p < .05) in the experimental group and did not change in the control group. Peak torque for knee flexion and knee extension, jump height and sprint running performance did not change significantly in any group (p > .05). Conclusion. High velocity elastic band training incorporated into regular pre-season routine is beneficial for football players to increase their knee extension-flexion maximal movement frequency with no evident effects on strength, jump and sprint running performance. Results might be related with concurrent training during preparatory training phase of the pre-season when several physical capacities are being developed simultaneously. Keywords: high speed movements; peak torque; sprint performance; prevention of hamstring injuries; knee flexion strength.

Background. The scientific literature focuses on the evaluation of quality of life (QL) and health-related quality of life (HRQL) among recreational and competitive athletes. Research suggests that the QL and HRQL levels of competitive athletes can be negatively affected in that they spend most of their lives in training, preparing for and recovering from competitions and tournaments; however, they neither learn most of the essential life skills (Ohlert & Ott, 2017), nor allot time to their leisure activities and recreation. There are also contradictory studies indicating that competitive athletes evaluate HRQL better than recreational ones do (Lorcan & Allen, 2018; Pacesova, Smela, & Antala, 2019). However, little is known about the impact of how different levels of sports activities affect HRQL in this pandemic period. Methods. HRQL was evaluated applying the SF-36 questionnaire (Short Form 36 Medical Outcomes Study questionnaire). The questionnaire was adapted in Lithuania (Staniūtė, 2007). Results. Statistically significant differences were found in the evaluation of quality of life in the following areas: social function, pain, and activity limitation due to emotional disorders. It was found that competitive athletes limited their activities more than recreational athletes due to emotional difficulties (U = 1165, p = .05) and experienced more pain (U = 1036, p = .01). It was also found that recreational athletes valued their social relations more favourably than competitive ones (U = 1066, p = .02). Statistically significant differences were found in the evaluation of HRQL by gender. Men value their social relations better (U = 992.5, p = .00) and have fewer activity limitations due to emotional difficulties (U = 1063, p = .02) than women. The HRQL evaluation by gender and sport level shows that in recreational sports men evaluated their social relationships better than women and had fewer activity limitations due to emotional difficulties than women. Analysis of HRQL of competitive athletes showed no statistically significant relationship between women and men groups. Conclusion. In conclusion, it can be stated that athletes best valued areas of physical activity and social relations. The findings show that competitive athletes more than recreational ones limited their activities due to emotional difficulties, and experienced more pain. Meanwhile, recreational athletes rated their social relations more favourably than competitive athletes. It was found that male athletes valued their social relations and emotional state better than female athletes. Men also had fewer activity limitations due to emotional difficulties than women. Keywords: quality of life, young adults, recreational athletes, competitive athletes.

Background. In Lithuania, from 2017 to 2018, in the age group of 16–64 years, the number of people with a disability increased from 18.3% to 19.4% (Statistics on Persons with Disabilities, 2018). According to the 2014 European Statistical Data, as many as 27.1% of over 16-year-olds with a disability in Europe reported prevailing limitations on their activity (Centre for European Social and Economic Policy, 2017). The significance of this current situation increases the relevance of this study, because insufficient attention is paid to disability research; researchers from around the world state that this area receives little of their attention (Rios et al., 2016; Shepherd, 2016; Williams & Moore, 2011). Methods. semi-structured interview, qualitative analysis of content. Results. Negative reaction towards one’s own body and the perceived irreversible physical changes after acquiring a disability provokes negative feelings, harmful behavior, and limits one’s interaction with the environment. For those who acquire a disability, interaction with the environment encompasses difficulties in entering buildings, reaching for objects, moving outside or receiving certain services. When assessing communication with other people, after acquiring a disability, in many cases, communication with friends worsens, but becomes better with family and relatives. The process of overcoming the disability happens systematically – accepting the acquisition of disability and adapting to the changes that occur; taking up sports or communal activity in order to strengthen oneself physically, emotionally and engage in social life; expressing the inequalities prevalent in society regarding disability and the proposed possible ways to improve the situation. Conclusion. People who acquire a disability encounter internal reactions and interaction with the changes in their environment, which create the strategic need to overcome the acquired disability and adapt to it. Keywords: movement disability, acquired disability, internal changes, environment changes, experiences.

Background. The hypothesis of this study is formulated as follows: the experience of junior basketball players in competitions will be more valuable than that of cadet basketball players. The aim of our study was to examine the peculiarities of youth and basketball players’ sport experiences. Methods. A total of 104 basketball players, 47 cadets and 57 juniors participated in the study. Survey questionnaire is used for the study. The following methodologies were used: Athlete’s Personal Experience Survey (Athletic Coping Skills Inventory, ACSI-28) and the Sport Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ). Results. The results of the study revealed statistically significant differences (p

Background. Pre-school age is the period of especially fast growth and physical development, characterized by an intensive growth and development of a child’s organism, great changes in the activity of the functional systems, which is affected by increasing physical activeness and fitness (Grinienė & Vaitkevičius, 2009; Howells & Sääkslahti, 2019). Previous studies have identified parental influence as a factor that can shape a child’s physical self–perception and act as a stimulus for physical activity and fitness (Eddolls, McNarry, Stratton, & Mackintosh, 2016). The aim of this study was to indicate physical activity of 5–6-year-old children and to determine the interaction between parents’ physical activity and physical fitness data. Methods. The study involved pre-school age children (n = 59) from 5 to 6 years old: 31 girls and 21 boys; also, their parents (n = 101) were involved: 57 mothers and 44 fathers. Physical activity was measured objectively using the ActiGraph GT3X model. The children performed five physical fitness tests (PFT) according to the Eurofit methodology. Also, parents were asked to fill in questionnaires about their own and their children’s physical activity, and also subjective physical fitness. Results. It turned out that there was a significant difference in the time spent in moderate and moderate to vigorous (MVPA) physical activity between 5 to 6-year-old children (p < .05). Comparing pre-school children’s physical fitness by gender we found that boys were more physically fit than girls when performing long jumps, but girls were more physically fit than boys when performing a sit and reach test (p < .05). Subjectively measured PA identified that 72.6% of parents (of both genders) were sufficiently physically active and 27.4% were inadequate physically active. Conclusion. The results revealed that 6-year-old children spent more time in sedentary time than 5-year-olds, who accumulated more time in moderate and total MVPA physical activity per day. No significant relation was found between parents’ and children’s physical activity and fitness. Keywords: physical activity, physical fitness, pre-school child, health, parents.

Background. As healthy lifestyle and physical activity become more relevant, sports apps are receiving more attention as one of the most convenient tools for monitoring one’s physical condition. While activity-related apps are thought to be effective tools for health care and management, there is still a lack of information on the key factors that motivate individuals to download and use them. Seeing the large selection of different sports apps with similar functions, it can be assumed that other factors, such as certain characteristics of the apps or the user’s characteristics can also influence the consumer’s choice. Methods. The study included 410 physically active subjects who were using sports apps (137 men and 273 women). To establish sports app usage, the questionnaire developed by Ha, Kang, and Ha (2015) was used. The statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS. Results. In the analysis of different factors, the perception of sports apps was assessed the most positively. All these factors were more likely to be assessed positively by women than by men (p ≤ .05). The strongest correlations with intentions were found between perceptions of sports apps (enjoyment, ease of use, usefulness, reliability) (r > .5, p ≤ .01) while with other variables correlations were slightly lower. Conclusions. Women are more positive about the use of sports apps, in their perceptions and their connection to the smart device. Intentions to use sports apps are most influenced by perceptions of sports apps and personal innovativeness, which not only directly affects the intentions themselves, but also influences the perceptions that influence the intentions. Keywords: smartphones, smart devices, sports involvement, innovation, perception.

Background. Body image concerns (BICs) negatively influence young people’s health as they mutilate psychosocial functioning and lifestyle. The present study aimed to compare BICs, socio-cultural attitudes towards appearance, and disordered eating (DE) in a large sample of student women and men of different body mass (BMI) and physical activity and to evaluate the mediating role of sports participation in the association between BICs and DE. Methods. A total sample of 1850 students (1087 or 58.8% were women, average age 21.6 ± 5.0 years) participated in the study and completed a questionnaire measuring BICs, internalization of the socio-cultural appearance ideals, drive for muscularity, DE, physical activity (PA), and BMI. Two hundred eighty-two men and two hundred eighty-eight women reported leisure-time participation in sports. Two-way ANOVA was conducted to test gender, BMI group, and sports participation effects on study variables. Moderated leisure-time exercise at a sports club effects were tested in the association between body image concerns (BICs) and disordered eating behaviours (DE). Results. Overweight/obese students reported greater BICs, internalization of the stereotyped appearance ideals, and DE compared to students of normal body weight. Participants of sports clubs demonstrated higher appearance evaluation and body areas satisfaction; however, they reported higher overweight preoccupation, internalization of socio-cultural ideals, drive for muscularity (men), and DE. A higher level of BMI, BICs, internalization of socio-cultural body ideals, and drive for muscularity (in men) were associated with greater DE in students. Participation in sports was not a significant moderator between BICs and DE. A significant interaction effect between BMI and exercising at a sports club was observed in women. Conditional effects demonstrated that female students with higher BMI and exercising at a sports club were at higher risk of DE (β = .18, p < .001) than women non-exercising at a sports club (β = .13, p < .001). Conclusions. Overweight students of both genders reported greater BICs and DE. Sports-involved students (men and women) demonstrated more favourable body appearance evaluation. However, sports participants of both genders demonstrated greater BICs and DE compared to non-exercisers. Sports participation had no significant mediating power on the associations between BICs and DE; however, women with higher BMI and participating in leisure-time sports faced a greater risk for DE than women with higher BMI but not participating in sports. The promotion of a positive body image was important to students, especially female students with higher BMI and participating in leisure sports. Keywords: body image concerns, disordered eating, physical activity, sport clubs, emerging adults.

Background. Healthy lifestyle is one of the main health determinants. Chronic diseases can be prevented by adopting health-related behavior and developing it into habits. Scientific literature suggests that psychosocial factors are part of people’s lives as they also affect health and health behaviors and it is important to understand them. Methods. Primary data collection method was face-to-face interview based on previous research. The main data was collected with self-reported diaries. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. Data was gathered on psychosocial factors and habits of adult women. There were eight participants in the study. Results. The following psychosocial aspects related to health behaviors were encoded in the results: self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, social support, distress and extrinsic motivation. The following emotions were encoded: joy, surprise, sadness, anger and fear. Women had similar psychosocial aspects and emotions towards new physical activity and nutritional habits. Conclusions. The findings indicated that self-efficacy was a dominant psychosocial aspect in the formation of physical activity habits. Together with intrinsic motivation, which manifested mostly after performing their chosen physical activity behavior, self-efficacy was restored in cases that women felt down about themselves. Social support and extrinsic motivation also suggested positive effect on habit formation. Emotion of joy was observed both before and after physical activity. Sadness and anger appeared when a daily task was not accomplished. Fear was not a widespread emotion among women who developed physical activity habits. Self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation were not important in nutritional habits formation. Social support was as important as extrinsic motivation for women to pursue their chosen habits. Joy was the dominant emotion for women with nutritional habits. One example of surprise was given. Sadness occurred because of unaccomplished tasks. Anger led to not performing nutritional habits. Keywords: psychosocial aspects, emotions, habits formation, adult women.

Background. Athlete brand image management is one of the most popular topics of discussion in sport management right now. As professional sport has become a commercialised industry segment with more athletes involved, athletes are becoming promotional faces. Most professional athletes are involved in the use of social networks. There athletes actively demonstrate their personal lives, professional accents and advertise products. It is important to understand and analyse the impact of social networks on an athlete’s brand and ways to properly position themselves in social media. Using social networks, athletes are closer to fans and consumers than ever before. Based on and applying the Athlete Brand model developed by Arai (2010), this study aimed to investigate students’ attitudes towards athletes’ self-positioning on social networks. Methods. The study involved 367 students (151 men and 216 women) from three Lithuanian universities. The Arai (2010) questionnaire was used for the study. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using SPSS 26.0. Results. It has been found that athletes’ sports performance is statistically significant in the development of a professional athlete’s brand, it is the fundamental aspect that creates the initial status of athlete’s brand. Results showed that the strongest direct causal link was found between an athlete’s athletic performance and lifestyle. It was also found that very strong links, in the opinion of the respondents, were between the athletes’ communication and behaviours. Conclusions. When building an athlete’s brand, it is important to pay attention to three key components: athletic performance, attractive appearance, and marketable lifestyle. These three uses of an athlete’s brand can be explained by specific aspects of sports competitions or components of personal life. However, one of the most important factors in shaping a positive image of an athlete is athletic achievements. Practical implications. This study can provide a consistent consumer approach to key aspects, focusing on consumer attention in athlete positioning. This can help the athlete and marketers develop an appropriate personal branding and positioning strategy in social media, which will then broaden the circle of fans and strengthen the opinion of loyal fans. Athlete’s brand is a set of closely interrelated and fan-centred physical, functional, aesthetic, and emotional elements that sets athlete’s brand apart from competitors and creates financial benefits for the athlete. The brand creates benefits not only for the athlete, but also for the market participants around him/her (consumer/fan, commercial brand), which can be called the functions of the brand. Keywords: Athlete’s image, social network, brand relationship.

Background. Children with autism disorder show atypical preference for non-social stimuli. Therefore, the deficits of social communication and social interest are primary and usually named features for the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The main idea of the present work was to show that the physiotherapy sessions (PS) were some of the ways that could improve the physical condition of children with ADS. Moreover, the application of such programs increased self-esteem, communication skills and permitted a better adaptation and integration within society. Methods. Eleven children attending kindergarten for children with special needs participated in this investigation. The inclusion criteria were a clinical diagnosis of ASD. All participants had F 84.0 code in their cases and were specified for grade II autism disorder according to the American Psychiatric Association (2014). The investigation process consisted of four stages: the initial testing, the application of the physiotherapy program (PS), the post-application testing and the analysis, interpretation and comparison of obtained results. The investigation process was applied for six weeks. Results. After PS applications, the children’s balance improved by 21.32%, coordination – 23.36%, physical and functional abilities such as speed (13.18%) and explosive leg strength (37.14%). Conclusions. The physiotherapy sessions improved the physical condition of children with ADS: balance, coordination, functional abilities and the explosive leg strength. The capability to do physical exercises in a group, at home or in individual sessions with specialist improved as well. Keywords: pre-school children, individual physiotherapy program, social skills.

Background. It is predicted that in 2060, the number of elderly people in Lithuania (62 and over years of age) will be 31.2% (Tamutienė & Naujanienė, 2013). The maintenance of stable posture requires particular attention because it gets more difficult to sustain it while doing multiple moves at the same time when you are getting older (Woo, Davids, Liukkonen, Chow, & Jaakkola, 2017). The aim of the study was to determine the importance of physical activity for the interplay of motor and cognitive functions in elderly people. Methods. Evaluation of static equilibrium by posturographic method, evaluation of cognitive functions, statistical analysis. Results. The results of the physically active and inactive research subjects were statistically significant (p = .043) in memory task with the eyes closed and in a simple position. A statistically significant difference in the sway velocity (Vsc) between the physical activity groups with eyes closed in simple position was also observed (p = .044). Double task with eyes closed resulted in worse balance performance. Conclusions. 1. Physical activity did not affect the motor function of the elderly. There were no differences between the physically active and inactive subjects in the assessed behavioral indices. 2. Physical activity did not affect the cognitive functions of the elderly. All elderly subjects were equally mistaken in their cognitive memory task. 3. The motor functions of the physically active elderly are controlled statistically significantly better when performing additional cognitive tasks than those of the physically inactive ones. Keywords: balance, elderly, physical activity.

Research background and hypothesis. Postural disorders appear to be one of the biggest health threats in Lithuania. Especially significant alterations in children’s health-related behaviour emerge when they start going to school. These changes in their daily routine are often faulty and may lead to the deteriorating health condition. Postural abnormalities need to be corrected as early as possible before they become permanent. According to some authors, rural children are more physically active compared to city children, therefore it is interesting to identify is there is any difference in body posture in rural and urban schoolchildren. Research aim was to assess and compare posture in urban and rural schoolchildren aged 7 to 10. Research sample: 248 schoolchildren (109 – from urban area; 139 – from rural area). Research methods. Posture of rural and urban schoolchildren was assessed using W. K. Hoeger’s method. Alignment of ten body segments was visually evaluated in a frontal (head, shoulders, spine, hips, knees and ankles) and sagittal (neck and upper back, trunk, abdomen, lower back, legs) planes. Research results. There were no significant differences (p > 0.05) in total posture score between girls (41.80 ± 6.87) and boys (40.62 ± 7.13). Girls and boys from the rural area had significantly (p < 0.05) higher total posture score than their counterparts from the urban area. Discussion and conclusions. There were no significant differences in total posture score between girls and boys. Regardless of age and gender, schoolchildren from rural area had better posture than children from urban area., Tyrimo pagrindimas ir hipotezė. Vaikų laikysenos sutrikimai yra viena svarbiausių sveikatos problemų Lietuvoje. Daugiausia pokyčių, galinčių sutrikdyti vaikų sveikatą, atsiranda jiems pradėjus lankyti mokyklą. Dienotvarkės pokyčiai dažnai yra kenksmingi ir gali sukelti sveikatos pablogėjimą. Laikysenos sutrikimus reikia koreguoti kaip galima anksčiau, kol jie netampa nuolatiniais. Kai kurių autorių teigimu, kaimo vietovėse gyvenantys vaikai yra fiziškai aktyvesni nei jų bendraamžiai, gyvenantys mieste, todėl įdomu, ar skiriasi mieste ir kaime gyvenančių moksleivių laikysena. Tikslas – įvertinti ir palyginti mieste ir kaime gyvenančių 7–10 metų vaikų laikyseną. Metodai. Įvertinta 248 (109 – miesto; 139 – kaimo) jaunesniojo mokyklinio amžiaus vaikų laikysena. Pagal W. K. Hoeger vizualinio laikysenos vertinimo metodiką vertinta 10 kūno segmentų frontalioje (galvos, pečių lanko, stuburo, dubens, kelių ir čiurnos) ir sagitalioje (kaklo ir viršutinės stuburo dalies, liemens, pilvo, apatinės stuburo dalies, kojos) plokštumoje. Rezultatai. Mergaičių (41,80 ± 6,87) ir berniukų (40,62 ± 7,13) laikysenos suminis balas nesiskyrė (p > 0,05). Kaimo vietovėje gyvenančių berniukų ir mergaičių laikysena buvo įvertinta reikšmingai (p < 0,05) aukštesniais balais nei jų bendraamžių, gyvenančių mieste. Aptarimas ir išvados. Reikšmingų skirtumų tarp bendros mergaičių ir berniukų laikysenos nenustatyta. Kaimo vietovėje gyvenančių vaikų laikysena buvo geresnė nei miesto vaikų nepriklausomai nuo amžiaus ir lyties.

Background.The purpose of this study is to estimate physical activity, physical ftness and assessment of mathematical achievements in primary schoolchildren. Methods. The study involved 1st grade students (N = 93), 45 of which were girls and 48 were boys. The flexibility test, the long jump test, 3 × 10 m speed shuttle run test, a medical (stuffed) 1 kg ball pushing from the chest test were used. Physical activity was measured using Children’s Physical Activity Questionnaire. Academic achievements were assessed using Mathematical diagnostic progress tests and mathematical learning achievements according to curriculum content. Results. It turned out that both boys (95.87 MET/min/week) and girls (91.30 MET / min/ week) were physically active in physical education lessons (p > 0.05). Long jump results ranged from 105.2 cm (girls) to 118.3 cm (boys), statistically signifcant differences were detected (p < 0.05) The best score of the girls’ shuttle running 3 × 10 m was 9.55 s, for boys it was 9.2 s, the worst performance time for boys was 13.68 s, for girls – 13.54 s (p < .05). Mathematics Diagnostic Progress Tests for both girls and boys indicated satisfactory levels. Conclusion. We should note that all 4 ftness tests had a positive, linear association with physical ftness testsand mathematics test scores. Keywords: physical activity, physical ftness, mathematical achievements, academic achievements, primary education.

Background. A scientific problem concerning factors which are important for academic achievement of students is analysed in the paper. Questions whether emotional intelligence level is related to academic achievement and whether correlation between academic achievement in a specific area (science, languages) and EI expression exists, whether emotional intelligence of young people with low education differs from that of young people with higher education, etc. are raised. Methods. Research participants were 1430 students aged between 17 and 27 years. The survey was performed using EI-DARL V2 test. The following factors were assessed: “Perception of one’s own emotions”; “Control of one’s own emotions”; “Perception of emotions of other people”; “Control of emotions of other people”, and “Manipulations”. Also, such aspects as ability of recognizing emotions in facial pictures and ability of emotional situation solving were assessed. Results. The combined EI scale scores in all factors were the highest of those subjects who are or were excellent students, the lowest – of those who were poor students. Those subjects who were equally poor both at languages and sciences were the least capable of perception of their own emotions and those of others people, they also were the least capable of controlling their own emotions. Highly educated young people were of higher emotional intelligence. Furthermore, emotional situation solving and emotion recognition in pictures was better in the group of highly educated students. Conclusion. Positive correlation between academic achievement and emotional intelligence was established. Mathematics and language skills proved to be significant indexes of emotional intelligence: it was established that those subjects who were more successful in sciences were the best at understanding and controlling their own emotions, while individuals who were better in languages were more efficient in understanding and controlling emotions of other people. Keywords: academic achievement, educational level, emotional intelligence.