THE INVESTIGATION OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY ON HAND-EYE COORDINATION AND REACTION TIME IN CHILDREN

The aim of the study was to examine the relationship among physical activity level (PAL) and hand-eye coordination, and reaction time, and to determine the difference among these parameters in terms of genders in children. A total of 230 (girls = 99, boys = 131) children who are at the age between 11-14 participated in the study voluntarily. The PALs of the children participating in the study were determined by the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Primary School Students, the reaction times were determined by using MOART Lafayette Reaction Meter, and the hand-eye coordination scores were measured by Star Two Hand Coordination Test. As a result of the statistical analysis of the obtained data, there was no statistically significant difference between PAL and dominant-nondominant hand visual simple reaction times, stellar hand coordination test errors and times of both boys and girls (p <0.05). It was determined that both visual dominant and non-dominant visual simple reaction times of boys were better than girls, and the BMI of girls was lower than boys (p <0.05). Although there was no statistically significant difference, it was seen that boys had higher PALs, and better hand-eye coordination test scores (with less error rate, and lower total time) than girls. As a result, it was found that physical had an effect on motor skills such as hand skill and reaction time as well as physical development of children. For this reason, it could be stated that directing children to physical activity is crucia