Increasing Physical Activity Behaviors through a Comprehensive School Change Effort (original) (raw)

Abstract

There has been an increased call for schools to address public health needs related to physical inactivity and weight gain. The negative health effects of inactivity are even more severe for Indigenous peoples. The purpose of the current project was to implement a one year theory-based curricular change initiative in an Indigenous North American community aimed at integrating physical activity (PA) and healthy behavior knowledge. Participants were 320 Pima Indian children from ten schools in a single Indigenous American community, including 38 classroom and 7 physical education teachers; assigned as intervention (27 classes) or comparison (11 classes) participants. ANOVA results indicated both groups became significantly more active over time. The intervention groups' behaviour was less stable (α = .71) over time versus the comparison group (α = .86) suggesting positive behaviour changes. Change takes time; however, these initial findings shows progress in increasing physical activity behaviours at school in an understudied and disadvantaged population. Increasing Physical Activity Behaviors through a Comprehensive School Change Effort One need not look far or hard to find evidence of the many public health issues facing the world today. In most of the developed countries the health issues are frequently related to obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Given that those diseases are often linked to physical inactivity, that topic is also of importance (World Health Organization [WHO], 2004; 2005). A full review of the public health literature is beyond the scope of this paper, but an overview of trends lends some insights into the magnitude and importance of these issues. For example, over the last decade in the USA the prevalence of obesity among adults has typically increased each year, from 19.4% in 1997 to 27.4% in 2008. Diagnosed diabetes rates have also increased over time with a 5.1% increase in 1997 and 7.9% increase reported early in 2008. Meanwhile, a modifiable risk factor, that is, regular leisure time physical activity, has remained quite constant with 29.8% and 29.5% of adults indicating regular participation in leisure time physical activity (in 1998 and 2008, respectively). Furthermore, the annual percentage of adults reporting excellent or very good health has decreased from 69.1% in 1998 to 66.2% in 2008 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2008). Sadly, similar negative health trends also affect children's health. It is well documented that many children are physically inactive and become even less active as they age (CDC, 1997;

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