scholarly journals The Role of School Physical Activity Programs in Child Body Mass Trajectory

2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meenakshi Maria Fernandes ◽  
Roland Sturm

Background:Physical activity at school can support obesity prevention among youth. This paper assesses the role of existing school physical activity programs for a national cohort from first grade to fifth grade.Methods:We analyzed a cohort from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey—Kindergarten Cohort which included 8246 children in 970 schools across the country. Growth curve models estimate the effect of physical education (PE) and recess on individual child body mass trajectories controlling for child and school characteristics. Hierarchical models allow for unobserved school and child effects.Results:Among first graders, 7.0% met the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) recommended time for PE and 70.7% met the recommended time for recess in the previous week. Boys experienced a greater increase in body mass than girls. Meeting the NASPE recommended time for recess was associated with a 0.74 unit decrease in BMI (body mass index) percentile for children overall. Meeting the NASPE recommendation for physical education was associated with 1.56 unit decrease in BMI percentile among boys but not girls.Conclusions:We find evidence that meeting the national recommendations for PE and recess is effective in mitigating body mass increase among children.

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 2651
Author(s):  
Zachary C. Pope ◽  
Charles Huang ◽  
David Stodden ◽  
Daniel J. McDonough ◽  
Zan Gao

Children’s body mass index may affect physical activity (PA) participation. Therefore, this study examined the effect of children’s weight status on underserved elementary school children’s PA and sedentary behavior (SB) throughout the segmented day. Participants were 138 children (X¯age = 8.14 years). Children’s height and weight were measured with subsequent classification of children as healthy weight or overweight/obese. Durations of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), light PA (LPA), and SB during physical education (PE), morning recess, lunch recess, after school, and overall were assessed via accelerometry over three days. Independent t-tests evaluated differences in children’s MVPA, LPA, and SB during each daily segment by weight status. Significantly higher MVPA was observed for children of healthy weight status versus children with overweight/obesity during morning recess, t(136) = 2.15, p = 0.03, after school, t(136) = 2.68, p < 0.01, and overall, t(136) = 2.65, p < 0.01. Interestingly, comparisons of children of healthy weight status and children with overweight/obesity’s LPA and SB during the after-school segment revealed a trend wherein children with overweight/obesity participated in slightly greater LPA/less SB than children of healthy weight status. Higher MVPA was observed among children of healthy weight versus children with overweight/obesity during most daily segments. Concerted efforts should focus on increasing MVPA among children with overweight/obesity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 629-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Taber ◽  
Jamie F. Chriqui ◽  
Frank M. Perna ◽  
Lisa M. Powell ◽  
Sandy J. Slater ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 395-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Altıntaş ◽  
F. H. Aşçı ◽  
A. Kin-İşler ◽  
B. Güven-Karahan ◽  
S. Kelecek ◽  
...  

Retos ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 271-274
Author(s):  
Manuela Costa ◽  
Tânia Oliveira ◽  
Jorge Mota ◽  
Maria Paula Santos ◽  
José Carlos Ribeiro

Objective: The objective of this study was twofold. First, analyze physical activity (PA) levels during physical education (PE) with different durations (45 and 90 minutes) according to student’s obesity status. Secondly, we examine the relative contribution of 45 and 90 minutes PE (45PE and 90PE) for the compliance of the daily PA recommendations according to the body mass index (BMI). Methods: Four public schools were analyzed. The sample comprised 472 youngsters (266 girls) aged between 10 and 18 years old. PA was assessed using an Actigraph accelerometer. The participants were categorized as non-overweight (NOW) and overweight/obese (OW) according to the sex-adjusted BMI. Results: The proportion of Moderate and Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) was lower than the 50% recommended by guidelines regardless the PE duration. Our data showed that only 26% of NOW and 13% of OW in the 45PE achieved the recommended levels while 17% of NOW and 11% of OW achieved the recommendation in 90PE. Overall, the 90PE had a higher absolute contribution for daily MVPA recommendations compliance than 45PE. Conclusion: During PE classes youngsters spent a reduced amount of time in MVPA, independently of their weight status.Resumen. Objetivo: Este estudio tiene un doble objetivo. En primero lugar, analizar los niveles de la actividad física durante la educación física con diferentes duraciones (45 y 90 minutos) de acuerdo con el estado de la obesidad de los alumnos. En segundo lugar, se analiza la contribución relativa de 45 y 90 minutos de la educación física para el cumplimiento de las recomendaciones diarias de actividad física según el índice de masa grasa. Métodos: cuatro escuelas públicas fueran analizadas. La muestra fue de 472 jóvenes (266 chicas) con edades entre los 10 y 18 años. La actividad física fue medida utilizando un acelerómetro Actigraph. Los participantes fueran clasificados como sin sobrepeso y con sobrepeso/obesidad de acuerdo con el índice de masa grasa ajustado al género. Resultados: La proporción de la actividad física moderada y vigorosa fue inferior al 50% recomendado por las recomendaciones independiente de la duración de la clase de educación física. Nuestros datos muestran que solo unos 26% de los niños sin sobrepeso y unos 13% de niñoss con sobrepeso/obesidad llegaron al los niveles recomendados en las clases de 45 min, mientras el 17% de los jóvenes sin sobrepeso y el 11% con sobrepeso/obesidad han logrado las recomendaciones en las clases de 90 min. En general, las clases de 90 min tienen una mayor contribución para cumplimiento de las recomendaciones diarias de actividad física moderada a vigorosa do que las clases de 45 min. Conclusión: Durante las clases de educación física los jóvenes tuvieran una cantidad reducida de tiempo en actividad física moderada a vigorosa, independiente de su estado de peso.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document