CHAPTER . IMPROVEMENT OF EDUCATIONAL CONTENT AND METHOD
4 School Health and School Lunch Programs
(l) Physical Features, Physical Strength and Athletic Abilities of Pupils
b. Physical strength and athletic abilities of pupils
The survey on people's physical strength and athletic abilities
by the Ministry of Education reveals that these generally increase with age and
physique, reaching a peak at the age of seventeen for males and fifteen for females,
with little development thereafter.
Table 38. Increase in Physical Strength and Athletic Abilities
Improvements in physical strength and athletic abilities can
be shown by comparing those of 10 and 14 year olds in 1964 with those in 1968.
With the exception of the ability of 10 years old boys to throw softball and
of 14 years old boys to bend forward (flexibility of body), the physical strength
and athletic abilities of children in these two age groups have increased. This
can be attributed to the physical improvements shown above. Although it is often
said that children's physical strength has been generally decreasing, this may
merely imply that the increase in physical strength has not been as large as
the increase in physical features.