Circadian preferences of the czech special olympic athletes participated in the project "healthy community"

Abstract

Health state of Special Olympics athletes is a key component of
Special Olympics 2016-2020 Strategic Plan. The project “Healthy
Community” ensure globally the rights of athletes with mental
disabilities, as well as their duty to care for health within their limits
based on arguments from field surveys of fitness indicators, health
indicators, realized lifestyle and sports results. To create an
atmosphere of a healthy community with the mutual support of
persons with mental disability, their parents and the responsible
community underline the idea of a healthy lifestyle in a healthy
society. The objective of the presented study is to analyse
biorhythms from the view of circadian habits in the context of sleep
preferences in the Special Olympic athletes living in the Czech
Republic in the South Bohemia Region. The research sample
consisted of 60 persons (28 males; 32 females), 15 - 18 years old,
with an average 17.1 (male age average 16.8; female age average
17.5) participated in the year 2017 in the international project
Golisano and Special Olympics ID Y1 16-600-14 “ZAS - Healthy
Community”. Methods used in the study consisted: from the
Modification Questionnaire of Circadian Typology “CIT” (Harada,
Krejčí - Czech version, 2015) provided in cooperation with the
Laboratory of Environmental Physiology Kochi University, Japan;
from Statistical analyses on the base of One-way non-parametric
ANOVA (Kruskal-Wallis test) in SPSS program, with using Fisher
Exact Test and Mann–Whitney U test. Significant differences
between the investigated samples of females and males SO athletes
were found. Data analyses demonstrate that it was found significant
correlation between difficulty falling asleep and sweet drinks
consumption in monitored athletes with mental disability. Based on
data analyse it is possible to declare that biorhythms in a form of
circadian preferences of athletes with mental disabilities influence
access to sport activity with realizing of maximum individual potential
among athletes in order to achieve their best possible performance
not only in sports, but also in day-to-day activities. Coaches and
other experts, working with athletes with mental disability, should be
alerted to the fact that the motor learning not only mediates changes
in motor skills, but also influences changes in the psycho-social
behaviour.