PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS: A KEY MEDICINE TO HEALTH PROMOTION IN ETHIOPIA

Engaging in physical activity within school settings improves early adolescents overall health status as well as their academic achievements. Therefore, the current study, aimed at primary schools, has been considered an essential medicine for promoting physical activity among older children. Eight hundred thirty-five older children aged 11 to 14 with a mean age of 12.95 ±0.937 SD were selected. A cross-sectional study was utilized to achieve the objective of this survey. Self-reported PAQ-C measure was conducted. The PAQ-C survey was analyzed using IBM SPSS (Ver. 26) to achieve this studys intended physical activity goal. The internal coherence of the data was assessed by Cronbachs alpha (0.819). The finding indicated a low level of participation with an average mean score of 2.49 (SD 0.63). A significant mean difference was observed between grades five and eight with 0.18461 (CI = 0.0066, 0.3626), P-value = 0.039<0.05), and Kola Shara primary school had the most significant mean difference (mean value = 0.78975, P = 0.000<0.05). As a result, grade five was more active than grade level, and Shara Primary School had better participation. However, the overall composite mean score was below the average. Therefore, the study demonstrated low participation in physical activity among the selected schools in the Gamo zone, southern Ethiopia. Finally, the study suggests that further research is needed to understand the factors that hinder the promotion of physical activity in school settings.