Changes in the subjective symptoms, flicker value and excretion of urinary protein in children after swimming

In order to determine the effects of physical loading on the health status of children who attend swimming classes, subjective and objective changes caused by exercise were studied. In addition, this study also attempts to understand the place of outdoor exercise in daily life and to grasp fundamental problems of health care for children. In my investigation, 43 children exercised in a swimming pool for 75 minutes, and subjective symptoms of fatigue, flicker fusion values, and excretion of uninary protein before and after swimming were analyzed. The results revealed that so-called Group I and III subjective symptoms of fatigue were increased after swimming as compared with before suggesting that physical and nervous symptoms were induced by swimming. However, Group II symptoms, i.e. psychological complaints, were decreased, compared with before swimming. Second, flicker fusion values for the whole sample before and after physical loading were not changed by exercise, though swimming tended to decrease flicker fusion values in boys (p<0.05). On the other hand, the flicker fusion value tended to increase in girls (p<0.05). Third, the excretion of urine per hour was increased (p<0.05) after swimming in an exercise-dependent manner, though the specific gravity of urine significantly decreased (p<0.01). Finally, urinary pH tended to decrease in boys but did not change in girls after swimming, and the concentration of urinary protein was significantly lower after swimming (p<0.01).