Correlations between children's Wushu participation, posture, physical fitness, and visual indicators

At present, school‑aged children face three common public‑health concerns: functional postural abnormalities, poor physical fitness, and visual fatigue accompanied by early refractive changes. Targeted exercise programmes that simultaneously mitigate all three health problems remain scarce. This study aimed to examine associations between long‑term participation in a comprehensive standardized Wushu programme containing embedded visual‑relaxation exercises and children's postural, physical‑fitness, and ocular indicators.

This retrospective analysis extracted school physical‑and‑vision screening archives of 196 primary‑school students collected between July‑December 2025. According to after‑school activity records, participants were divided into an experimental group (n = 98, receiving consistent standardized Wushu training) and a control group (n = 98, routine physical education without systematic Wushu practice). Researchers did not provide additional training for participants. Data covering a unified 16‑week observation period were extracted following national standard assessment protocols. Linear mixed‑effects models, partial correlation analysis and forward‑stepwise regression were used, with adjustment for age, gender and daily screen‑reading time.

After 16 weeks of observation, the experimental group demonstrated better body alignment and decreased postural anomalies including uneven shoulder height and trunk tilt (p < 0.01). Significantly higher scores for cardiorespiratory endurance, core strength, flexibility and balance were also observed, alongside significant group‑by‑time interactions (p < 0.01). Compared with the control group, children participating in the Wushu programme achieved better uncorrected distance visual acuity, ciliary‑muscle accommodation capacity and visual‑fatigue recovery performance (p < 0.01). Wushu‑participation frequency and duration were independent positive correlates of improved posture, physical fitness and visual function (p < 0.01). Notably, improvements in visual function may partly derive from embedded visual‑relaxation drills rather than Wushu movements alone.

Given its retrospective archival design, causal inferences cannot be established. These real‑world correlational findings provide evidence to support school‑sport planning targeting children's physical and visual health.