scholarly journals Children’s Physical Activity Levels Following Participation in a Classroom-Based Physical Activity Curriculum

Children ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tan Leng Goh ◽  
Chee Hoi Leong ◽  
Timothy A Brusseau ◽  
James Hannon

A classroom-based physical activity curriculum offers an opportunity for students to be active during the school day to combat declining physical activity levels among this population. The effects of classroom-based physical activity curriculum on children of different weight categories is relatively unknown. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the differences in physical activity levels between male and female students, and between students of different weight categories following participation in a classroom-based physical activity curriculum intervention. A total of 210 3rd to 5th grade (age = 9.1 ± 0.1) students from one U.S. elementary school participated in a 4-week intervention. Students’ physical activity levels were measured using pedometers, quantified by step counts pre- and post-intervention. Results from the study indicated that students’ physical activity levels increased after participation in the intervention; male students’ physical activity levels were higher than female students. Additionally, there was an increase in physical activity levels regardless of weight categories, with students of healthy weight exhibiting the most increase following participation in the intervention. In view of the improvement of children’s physical activity levels following their participation in a classroom-based physical activity curriculum, it is recommended that training and resources be provided for teachers to easily implement the curriculum during the school day.

Author(s):  
Kristy Howells ◽  
Tara Coppinger

To date, little research has longitudinally examined young children’s physical activity (PA) during school hours, nor questioned children’s perceptions of their own PA behaviours. This study investigated 20 children’s actual physical activity levels (APA) and their perceived physical activity levels (PPA) (10 infants, mean age 6.6 years; 10 juniors, mean age 9.5 years). APA was evaluated using accelerometers across 36 whole school days (371 min per day); 18 days included Physical Education (PE) lessons and 18 did not. A repeated-measures three-factor ANOVA analysed: type of day; age phase; parts of the day and sex. PPA was collected by an interactive handset and an adapted version of the PA Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C). Participants undertook 10 more minutes of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) on PE days (53 ± 19 min) compared to non-PE days (43 ± 15 min) (F = 92.32, p < 0.05) and only junior boys reached daily MVPA recommendations (60 ± 13 min) on PE days. Juniors over-estimated, and infants under-estimated, their APA levels. Educators need more support to teach and embed different PA intensities into the school day to enable children to better understand the health benefits associated with varying the intensity of their PA during school hours.


Author(s):  
Erkan Konca ◽  
Egemen Ermiş ◽  
Necati Alp Erilli

Covid-19 virus, which entered our lives in the last period of 2019, has caused radical changes in our lives. After the pandemic was declared, the threat of the epidemic that affected the whole world caused us to change a large number of our habits. In particular, the periods when people were closed at home, which led to a decrease in physical activity levels. In our study, an international physical activity form was given to 278 students between the ages of 7 and 16. Physical activity levels of the students in the past week and what activities they did were found. 162 male students and 116 female students participated in the study. 28 of these students were in primary education, 154 were in secondary education and 96 were in high school. While 7 of the students who participated in the study had barriers to doing sports, it was found that 271 students did not have any. As a result of the analyses conducted about the prevalence of physical activity, it was found that the students were moderately active. It was found that 8.8% of the students were highly active, 23.8% were very active, 30.74% were moderately active, 19.11% were slightly active and 17.57% were inactive (sedentary). In terms of the ways of doing activity in general, it can be seen that during the pandemic, individuals preferred activities which were easy to do at home and on the street and also which were less risky. It can be said that sports branches performed as a team are generally avoided. Activities that are easy to do and less risky, such as running and walking for exercise, have come to the fore during the pandemic process. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0874/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>


PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Xu ◽  
Minghui Quan ◽  
Hanbin Zhang ◽  
Chenglin Zhou ◽  
PeiJie Chen

Purpose This study examined the associations of physical activity levels between parents and their pre-school children based on gender and weekday/weekend. Method A total of 247 parent-preschool child triads from Shanghai, China were analyzed. The children had a mean age of 57.5 ± 5.2 months. Both sedentary behavior and physical activity were measured in all participants using an ActiGraph GT3X+ accelerometer over seven consecutive days from Monday through the following Sunday. A multivariate regression model was derived to identify significant relationships between parental and child physical activity according to gender and weekday/weekend. Results There was a significant correlation between mothers’ and girls’ moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and total physical activity (TPA) on weekdays. Fathers’ MPVA levels correlated significantly with those of boys and girls, with paternal influence appearing to be stronger than maternal influence. However, there was not a significant correlation between fathers’ and children’s TPA. TPA levels of both mothers and fathers correlated with those of girls, but not with those of boys. Parental sedentary levels on the weekend correlated significantly with girls’ levels, but not with boys’ levels. Children’s physical activity levels on weekends were influenced more by fathers’ activity levels than by mothers’, while the opposite was observed on weekdays. Conclusion Sedentary behavior and physical activity levels of parents can strongly influence those of their preschool children, with maternal influence stronger during the weekdays and paternal influence stronger on the weekends. Parents’ activity levels influence girls’ levels more strongly than they influence boys’ levels.


2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald C. Plotnikoff ◽  
Steven T. Johnson ◽  
Constantinos A. Loucaides ◽  
Adrian E. Bauman ◽  
Nandini D. Karunamuni ◽  
...  

At a population level, the method used to determine those meeting physical activity guidelines has important implications, as estimating “sufficient” physical activity might be confounded by weight status. The objective of this study was to test the difference between three methods in estimating the prevalence of “sufficient activity” among Canadian adults with type 2 diabetes in a large population sample (N=1614) while considering the role of weight status as a potential confounder. Our results revealed that estimates of physical activity levels vary by BMI categories, depending on the methods examined. Although physical activity levels were lower in the obese, their energy expenditure estimates were not different from those who were overweight or of a healthy weight. The implications of these findings are that biased estimates of physical activity at a population level may result in inappropriate classification of adults with type 2 diabetes as “sufficiently active” and that the inclusion of body weight in estimating physical activity prevalence should be approached with caution.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell R. Pate ◽  
Marsha Dowda ◽  
William H. Brown ◽  
Jonathan Mitchell ◽  
Cheryl Addy

Background:It is known that children are more physically active outdoors than indoors. However, few previous studies have observed the time course for physical activity as young children transition from indoor to outdoor activities.Methods:Participants were 3- to 5-year-old children enrolled in the Children’s Activity and Movement in Preschool Study (CHAMPS). Trained observers used the Observational System for Recording Physical Activity in Children-Preschool Version (OSRAC-P) to record children’s physical activity levels over 20 minutes in outdoor settings. The 20-minute outdoor observational period began immediately following the transition from indoors to outdoors.Results:Children’s activity levels were moderately high at the time of transition and declined over the 20-minute observation period. Different patterns, however, were observed for boys and girls. Overall, boys were more active than girls. Boys’ activity levels declined in a linear fashion over the 20-minute period, while girls’ activity levels increased slightly, decreased, and then increased slightly again.Conclusions:These data indicate that physical activity levels decline with increased duration of outdoor play. The frequency and duration of outdoor play should be investigated for the purpose of optimizing physical activity levels.


2006 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 415-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie J. M. Verstraete ◽  
Greet M. Cardon ◽  
Dirk L. R. De Clercq ◽  
Ilse M. M. De Bourdeaudhuij

2013 ◽  
Vol 83 (5) ◽  
pp. 322-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Erwin ◽  
Ryann Koufoudakis ◽  
Aaron Beighle

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