Association between physical activity, lifestyle habits and psychological wellbeing in primary school students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47197/retos.v85.119831Keywords:
Mental health, Physical activity, Primary education, Quality of life, ResilienceAbstract
Introduction: Physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits are relevant to psychological well-being in children and adolescents, although evidence among primary school students remains limited.
Objective: To analyze the association between physical activity, lifestyle habits, and dimensions of psychological well-being in schoolchildren, exploring differences according to sex and weight status.
Methodology: A cross-sectional and correlational study was conducted in 97 students from 4th, 5th and 6th grades of primary school (mean age 10.9 ± 0.87 years; 42.3% girls). Physical activity, health-related quality of life, resilience, symptoms of anxiety, depression and stress, sleep duration, and screen time exposure were assessed. Descriptive analyses, between-group comparisons, and correlations were performed (p < .05).
Results: Higher physical activity was associated with better health-related quality of life, particularly in the physical (r = .547; p < .001), psychological (r = .525; p < .001), and family well-being (r = .273; p = .008) dimensions, as well as with higher resilience (r = .312; p = .002). No associations were observed with anxiety, depression, or stress. Longer sleep duration was associated with a better perception of the school environment, whereas greater screen time exposure was associated with shorter sleep duration. Girls showed higher levels of anxiety, while boys showed higher resilience, with no differences according to weight status.
Conclusions: Schoolchildren with higher levels of physical activity and healthier lifestyle habits show better indicators of psychological well-being, reinforcing the importance of promoting healthy lifestyles from primary education onwards.
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