"Get up briefly every 30 minutes at the latest and change position, that would be strongly advised," says Prof. Mess. In addition, he said, breaks should be firmly scheduled for the entire team during video conferences: "Then everyone has the opportunity to get out of their position for two to five minutes or perhaps go briefly to the kitchen and get a glass of water, not only to get out of this sitting position into a standing position, but also to really take a two-minute movement break."
In addition, Prof. Mess was featured as an expert on the BR fitness magazine on February 21, 2021, under the title "Important and feasible, but without a lobby: school sports in distance learning."
Among other things, he spoke with moderator Christine Kellermann about the current situation: "School sports and sports in general have of course now clearly moved into the background during the pandemic, because they are out of the everyday life of children and young people due to all the bans, infection control measures and so on. From a health perspective, we are already concerned that activity levels are declining and that children and adolescents are moving less in their everyday lives, which is of course associated with health risks and can be accompanied by developmental delays. Initial studies do indeed confirm some concern in the activity behavior of children and adolescents."
In the further course, he also commented on whether physical education at a distance is at all conceivable and what models or ideas there are for it: "I believe that it is not only possible, but imperative. If you look at the health development of children and young people in the pandemic situation, then there is at least from the school entrance examinations of the last year or also from current studies the information that on the one hand the proportion of overweight children has increased and that at the same time mental illnesses have also increased. Physical education can of course counteract such negative health developments. That is why physical education must or should take place at a distance. Physical education at a distance is generally possible and there are also wonderful examples of how this can really be implemented by the physical education teachers with the students. The Bavarian State Office for Schools, and in particular the State Office for School Sports, has compiled an incredible number of ideas on their website - all under the label 'virtual physical education' or 'virtual gym'."
To the BR Notebook on 8 February 2021
To the BR fitness magazine on 21 February 2021
To the homepage of the Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Filip Mess
Associate Professorship of Didactics in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24520
e-mail: filip.mess(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photo: private