Leisure-Time Physical Activity in School Environments: An Observational Study Using SOPLAY (original) (raw)
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Leisure-Time Physical Activity in School Environments: An Observational Study Using SOPLAY* 1
Preventive Medicine, 2000
levels have been developed [1-3]. Many adolescents are Background. Schools provide settings for physical not meeting these guidelines, particularly for high-inactivity (PA), but objective tools for measuring PA are tensity physical activity [4]. Numerous obstacles imlacking. We assessed an instrument to directly observe pede youth from obtaining recommended levels of physgroup PA and measured the leisure-time PA of adolesical activity, and, as they grow older, their activity levels cents throughout the school day. decline [5]. Children and adolescents obtain most of Methods. Leisure-time PA was studied by direct obtheir physical activity in nonschool settings [6]. Many, servation in 24 middle schools in Southern California however, have limited access to structured activity enviusing SOPLAY (System for Observing Play and Leisure ronments such as youth sports and activity lessons and Activity in Youth). SOPLAY uses momentary time samto nonstructured environments such as parks and hikpling to record the activity of each individual as sedening trails. Girls are particularly disadvantaged by fewer tary, walking, or very active. Results. The largest proportion of students visited opportunities for youth sports [7] and the less affluent activity areas at lunch time (19.5%), followed by before are hampered by entry fees and transportation costs. (4.1%) and after school (2.1%). More boys than girls vis-Adolescents, too young to drive, also must rely on others ited activity areas before school (33.4 vs 7.7) and at to provide them access to distant activity sites. lunch time (148.8 vs 36.7). Boys in areas engaged in Schools have been identified as providing the most more moderate to vigorous PA than girls before school logical environment for promoting public health of (59.6 vs 40%) and at lunch time (67.7 vs 51.7%). youth through physical activity [8,9]. Most studies of Conclusions. Few students use opportunities to be children's physical activity have taken place in elemenphysically active during lesiure time at school. Policies tary schools, primarily during physical education and environmental manipulations (e.g., supervision, classes [10]. However, there are nearly 14,000 middle equipment, structured programs) are needed to attract and junior high schools in the United States [11] and more adolescents, especially girls, to existing activity areas. The feasibility of SOPLAY for measuring group the physical activity that adolescents accrue in these PA was established. ᭧ 2000 American Health Foundation and Aca-environments has rarely been studied, particularly acdemic Press tivity obtained during leisure-time periods. Almost all Key Words: adolescents; middle school; physical activmiddle schools have facilities to support leisure-time ity; measurement; exercise; leisure activity (recrephysical activity during the day, and many conduct ation). structured extracurricular activities, including intramural and interscholastic sports and club programs. There are several reasons for interest in studying 1 To whom reprint requests should be addressed at Department of mended levels. Second, the recent, rapid increase in Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, 6363 youth obesity [14] is an important stimulus for in
Physical Activity Behavior Patterns during School Leisure Time in Children
Optimizing physical activity (PA) in children is paramount to attenuate the incidence of chronic disease and to improve social and cognitive health. Limited research exists examining the observed PA patterns during school leisure times in children from the U.S. The purpose of this study was to examine the observed PA patterns of children during three school leisure times: before school, during lunch, and after school. The SOPLAY instrument was used to observe PA during the three leisure times across six weeks at four elementary schools in the U.S. Observer PA counts were stratified by sex, PA intensity (sedentary, walking, and very active), and leisure time. Multi-level models were employed to examine the effect of leisure time and PA intensity on observer PA counts, adjusting for day and school-level clustering. Lunch displayed the greatest number of counts for sedentary, walking, and very active PA intensities (p < 0.001). In boys, a greater number of observer counts in the very active PA intensity were recorded compared to the sedentary intensity before school (β = 10.34, p = 0.04) and during lunch (β = 15.57, p < 0.001). Girls did not display any differences among the PA intensities within before school and lunch leisure times (p > 0.05). After school displayed the fewest counts for walking and very active PA in both sexes (p < 0.05). An emphasis should be placed on increasing walking and very active PA intensities before school and during lunch in girls and after school in both sexes.
Youth Physical Activity Patterns During School and Out-of-School Time
Children
This study describes age, sex, and season patterns in children’s physical activity behaviors during discrete time periods, both in school and at home. Participants were 135 elementary, 67 middle, and 89 high-school students (128 boys and 163 girls) involved in a larger school activity monitoring project. We examined time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) at recess, physical education (PE), lunch, commuting to/from school, before-school, after-school, evening, and weekend segments. Differences in MVPA by age, sex, and season were examined using a three-way analysis of variance and separately for each individual segment. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity levels varied by context and were higher during recess (15.4 ± 8.5 min) while at school, and on Saturdays (97.4 ± 89.5 min) when youth were out-of-school. Elementary children were more active than their older counterparts only during lunch time, after-school, and Sunday (p < 0.05). Boys were consistently m...
Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 2010
Background: Active recreation sessions taking place within after-school programs (ASP) present an opportunity for attending children to attain part of the recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This cross-sectional study's purpose was to assess relationships between microlevel ASP environmental characteristics and physical activity and sedentary behavior (SED). Methods: During 161 ASP active recreation sessions, 240 children from 7 schools wore Actigraph GT1M accelerometers and were observed up to 6 times per year, over 3 years. To provide microlevel environmental data, trained observers recorded session times, location, duration, organization, equipment, and number of children and staff. Unadjusted bivariate correlations and multivariable regression analyses were used to assess the influence of microlevel environmental variables on MVPA and SED, with regression models controlling for relevant covariates. Results: Across all ASP active recreation sessions, children spent 39 ± 15% in MVPA and 16 ± 11% in SED. Session location, boy-to-girl ratio, and duration were significantly related to MVPA in the regression model. For SED, location and duration were significant influences in the model. Conclusions: Both location and duration appear to be modifiable correlates of group physical activity level, which may serve to inform intervention efforts to promote physical activity in ASP.
2011
Background: Active recreation sessions taking place within after-school programs (ASP) present an opportunity for attending children to attain part of the recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This cross-sectional study's purpose was to assess relationships between microlevel ASP environmental characteristics and physical activity and sedentary behavior (SED). Methods: During 161 ASP active recreation sessions, 240 children from 7 schools wore Actigraph GT1M accelerometers and were observed up to 6 times per year, over 3 years. To provide microlevel environmental data, trained observers recorded session times, location, duration, organization, equipment, and number of children and staff. Unadjusted bivariate correlations and multivariable regression analyses were used to assess the influence of microlevel environmental variables on MVPA and SED, with regression models controlling for relevant covariates. Results: Across all ASP active recreation sessions, children spent 39 ± 15% in MVPA and 16 ± 11% in SED. Session location, boy-to-girl ratio, and duration were significantly related to MVPA in the regression model. For SED, location and duration were significant influences in the model. Conclusions: Both location and duration appear to be modifiable correlates of group physical activity level, which may serve to inform intervention efforts to promote physical activity in ASP.
Journal of Science and …, 2011
Most studies of psychosocial and demographic correlates of physical activity (PA) have examined relationships across various types of physical and social environments, rather than within a specific environmental behavior setting. The objective of this study was to investigate correlates of PA in structured and unstructured after-school recreation sessions. This study is cross-sectional. School records, questionnaires, and anthropometry were used to obtain demographic and psychosocial variables. Third and fourth-grade children (n = 230) from seven schools wore Actigraph GT1M accelerometers up to six times per year during after-school programming. Accelerometer data were processed to determine percentage of time in moderate-to-vigorous PA (T scores, reflective of an individual child’s PA level relative to group mean, were computed for each session and averaged across sessions). Pearson correlations, point-biserial correlations, and mixed-model analyses were used to determine significant associations with PA for each session type (structured and unstructured). For structured sessions, gender, PA barriers self-efficacy, and PA enjoyment were significantly related to PA. For unstructured sessions, only gender was related to PA. Despite equivalent opportunities to participate in active recreation, boys were more active than girls, and children varied in PA level partly due to psychosocial factors. Our results showed that PA self-efficacy and enjoyment explained variability in structured PA sessions.
Physical Activity in Young Schoolchildren in After School Programs
Journal of School Health, 2019
BACKGROUND: After-school programs (ASP) provide opportunities to influence children's physical activity (PA). However, little is known about the PA levels of the youngest schoolchildren. The aim of the study was to describe the level of physical activity intensity and sedentary time among first graders attending ASP in Norway, and to investigate factors that are associated with PA in the ASP. METHODS: First graders from 14 ASPs were invited to participate in the study and 426 children were included. The children wore an accelerometer for five consecutive days during their stay in the ASP. Light, moderate and vigorous physical activity and sedentary time were registered and analyzed. RESULTS: On average, the children accumulated 25.8 minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during their ASP-stay. However, there was considerable variation within the sample. Sex, as well as body mass, were associated with MVPA. The activity level increased substantially when the children had to be outside. CONCLUSIONS: The findings show that on average, the children were quite physically active in the ASP. However, it seems critical to devote increased attention to the least active children and to include extensive outdoor play-time in the ASP schedule.
The purpose of the study was to quantify the contributions of physical education, exergaming (active video games that also are a type of exercise), recess, lunch break and after-school time segments to children's daily physical activity and sedentary behaviours. Participants were 138 second and third graders (71 girls) who attended 20-min recess and 75-min lunch time daily, 25-min regular physical education or exergaming-based classes being alternated daily. The after-school period was defined as 3:20-10:00pm. Physical activity was assessed via accelerometry and the dependent variables were children's time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Children's percentages of time spent in MVPA (P < .001; except for the difference between exergaming and lunch break: P = .63), light physical activity (P < .001) and sedentary behaviour (P < .001) differed significantly across the time segments (i.e., physical education/exergaming, recess, lunch break and after-school). Additionally, children accumulated significantly more MVPA (t = 10.22, P < .001) but less light physical activity (t = −3.17, P = .002) and sedentary behaviour (t = −3.91, P < .001) in physical education than in exergaming. Overall, physical education was more effective in generating MVPA than other segments over the school day. The after-school segment holds potential as an avenue for promoting children's MVPA, as this long period could be better utilised to organise structured physical activity.
Physical activity levels among children attending after-school programs
Medicine & Science in …, 2008
Purpose: To describe the physical activity (PA) levels of children attending after-school programs, 2) examine PA levels in specific after-school sessions and activity contexts, and 3) evaluate after-school PA differences in groups defined by sex and weight status. Methods: One hundred forty-seven students in grades 3–6 (mean age: 10.1 T 0.7, 54.4% male, 16.5 % overweight (OW), 22.8% at-risk for OW) from seven after-school programs in the midwestern United States wore Actigraph GT1M accelerometers for the duration of their attendance to the program. PA was objectively assessed on six occasions during an academic year (three fall and three spring). Stored activity counts were uploaded to a customized data-reduction program to determine minutes of sedentary (SED), light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA), and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) physical activity. Time spent in each intensity category was calculated for the duration of program attendance, as well as specific after-school sessions (e.g., free play, snack time). Results: On average, participants exhibited 42.6 min of SED, 40.8 min of LPA, 13.4 min of MPA, and 5.3 min of VPA. The average accumulation of MVPA was 20.3 min. Boys exhibited higher levels of MPA, VPA, and MVPA, and lower levels of SED and LPA, than girls. OW and at-risk-for-OW students exhibited significantly less VPA than nonoverweight students, but similar levels of LPA, MPA, and MVPA. MVPA levels were significantly higher during free-play activity sessions than during organized or structured activity sessions. Conclusion: After-school programs seem to be an important contributor to the PA of attending children. Nevertheless, ample room for improvement exists by making better use of existing time devoted to physical activity. Key Words: YOUTH, MOTION SENSORS, ACCELEROMETER, EXERCISE, OUT-OF-SCHOOL TIME