SLOfit surveillance system of somatic and motor development of children and adolescents: Upgrading the Slovenian Sports Educational Chart

Abstract

Slovenia is a pioneer in the systematic monitoring of physical fitness in children and adolescents. In 1969, a national system for monitoring physical and somatic development, called the Sports Educational Chart, was developed and later revised in 1987. Since 1987, all Slovenian primary and secondary schools complete three anthropometric and eight physical fitness measures to assess child development on the population level. The results are processed by the Faculty of Sport, University of Ljubljana, Laboratory of Physical and Motor Development. The Laboratory provides feedback to every schoolchild, class and school. In recent years, advanced IT support was upgraded and renamed as the SLOfit system. Registered users of SLOfit, consist of PE teachers, parents, children, and physicians, who are able to use the on-line application My SLOfit. Through My SLOfit, individuals can follow their development, assess health risks or get advice. The web platform facilitates cooperation between the educational and health system enabling a holistic approach to developmental difficulties. The My SLOfit application works as a powerful communication tool with other platforms, including a website (www.slofit.org), and Facebook. This article presents the basic features of the SLOfit surveillance system and highlights its development as a support tool for efficient, holistic data use.

Keywords

• physical fitness
• children
• physical education
• population health
• feedback