Physical activity and school recess time: Differences between the sexes and the relationship between children's playground physical activity and habitual physical activity (original) (raw)
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Pediatric Exercise Science
Purpose: School recess provides a valuable opportunity for children’s daily moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). This study aimed to quantify MVPA during school recess in a representative sample of Scottish children and examine whether recess MVPA varied by gender, socioeconomic status, season, urban/rural residency, and recess length. Method: Five-day accelerometry MVPA data were analyzed from 773 children (53.9% girls, 46.1% boys, 10- to 11-y-olds) from 471 schools. Binary logistic regression explored associations between meeting/not meeting the recommendation to spend 40% of recess time in MVPA and the aforementioned risk factors. Descriptive recess data were also analyzed. Results: Participants spent an average of 3.2 minutes (SD 2.1) in MVPA during recess. Girls engaged in 2.5 minutes (SD 1.7) of MVPA compared with 4.0 minutes (SD 2.2) for boys. Only 6% of children met the recess MVPA recommendation. The odds of girls (odds ratio 0.09; 95% confidence interv...
Differences in Physical Activity During School Recess
Journal of School Health, 2011
BACKGROUND: School recess provides a daily opportunity for physical activity engagement. The purpose of this study was to examine physical activity levels during recess by gender, ethnicity, and grade, and establish the contribution of recess to daily school physical activity levels.
Children's Physical Activity During Recess and Outside of School
Journal of School Health, 2006
The purpose of this study was to examine children's physical activity during recess and outside of school. Third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students (N ¼ 270; 121 boys, age ¼ 9.5 6 0.9 years; 150 girls, age ¼ 9.6 6 0.9 years) wore sealed pedometers during a 15-minute recess period and outside of school for 4 consecutive school days. A factorial analysis of variance (grade by gender) was used to examine differences among grades and between genders for the following variables: recess activity time (RAT), recess step counts (RSC), out-of-school activity time (OAT), and out-of-school step counts (OSC). For all outcome variables, there were no significant interactions between grade and gender and no significant main effect for grade. A significant main effect for gender (F 1,264 ¼ 73.1, p , .001) indicated that boys accumulated more RSC and OSC than girls (1268 6 341 vs 914 6 261 and 7229 6 2877 vs 5808 6 2059, respectively) and more RAT and OAT than girls (11.7 6 2.4 vs 9.4 6 2.2 and 77.3 6 28 vs 67.4 6 21, respectively). Boys spent 78% and girls spent 63% of their recess time engaged in physical activity. Outside of school, girls spent 20% and boys spent 25% of their time engaged in physical activity. RAT comprised 14% and 16% of total discretionary activity time for girls and boys, respectively. Boys in this study are more active during discretionary time periods compared to girls. Study participants spent the majority of their recess time engaged in physical activity. (J Sch Health. 2006;76(10):516-520) E vidence supporting the importance of childhood physi-
Variables associated with children's physical activity levels during recess: the A-CLASS project
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2010
Background: School recess provides a daily opportunity for children to engage in physically active behaviours. However, few studies have investigated what factors may influence children's physical activity levels in this context. Such information may be important in the development and implementation of recess interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between a range of recess variables and children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous physical activity in this context. Methods: One hundred and twenty-eight children (39% boys) aged 9-10 years old from 8 elementary schools had their physical activity levels observed during school recess using the System for Observing Children's Activity and Relationships during Play (SOCARP). Playground variables data were also collected at this time. Multilevel prediction models identified variables that were significantly associated with children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous physical activity during recess. Results: Girls engaged in 13.8% more sedentary activity and 8.2% less vigorous activity than boys during recess. Children with no equipment provision during recess engaged in more sedentary activity and less moderate activity than children provided with equipment. In addition, as play space per child increased, sedentary activity decreased and vigorous activity increased. Temperature was a significant negatively associated with vigorous activity. Conclusions: Modifiable and unmodifiable factors were associated with children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous physical activity during recess. Providing portable equipment and specifying areas for activities that dominate the elementary school playground during recess may be two approaches to increase recess physical activity levels, though further research is needed to evaluate the short and long-term impact of such strategies.
BMC Public Health, 2014
Background: The school environment influences children's opportunities for physical activity participation. The aim of the present study was to assess objectively measured school recess physical activity in children from high and low socioeconomic backgrounds. Methods: Four hundred and seven children (6-11 years old) from 4 primary schools located in high socioeconomic status (high-SES) and low socioeconomic status (low-SES) areas participated in the study. Children's physical activity was measured using accelerometry during morning and afternoon recess during a 4-day school week. The percentage of time spent in light, moderate, vigorous, very high and in moderate-to very high-intensity physical activity were calculated using age-dependent cut-points. Sedentary time was defined as 100 counts per minute. Results: Boys were significantly (p < 0.001) more active than girls. No difference in sedentary time between socioeconomic backgrounds was observed. The low-SES group spent significantly more time in light (p < 0.001) and very high (p < 0.05) intensity physical activity compared to the high-SES group. High-SES boys and girls spent significantly more time in moderate (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05, respectively) and vigorous (p < 0.001) physical activity than low-SES boys. Conclusions: Differences were observed in recess physical activity levels according to socioeconomic background and sex. These results indicate that recess interventions should target children in low-SES schools.
Physical Activity During School Recess
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2012
There has been increased interest in examining the physical activity levels of young people during school recess periods. Identifying correlates of their physical activity behaviors is timely, and would inform school-based physical activity programming and intervention development. The aim of this narrative review was to examine the correlates of children's and adolescent's physical activity during school recess periods. Evidence acquisition: A systematic search of six electronic databases, reference lists and personal archives identified 53 studies (47 of which focused on children) published between January 1990 and April 2011 that met the inclusion criteria. Data were analyzed in 2011. Correlates were categorized using the social-ecological framework. Evidence synthesis: Forty-four variables were identified across the 4 levels of the socialecological framework, though few correlates were repeatedly studied at each level of influence. Positive associations were found between overall facility provision, unfixed equipment, and perceived encouragement and recess physical activity. Results also revealed that boys were more active than girls. Conclusions: Providing access to school facilities, providing unfixed equipment, and identifying ways to promote encouragement for physical activity have the potential to inform strategies to increase physical activity levels during recess periods.
Children's physical activity levels during school recess: a quasi-experimental intervention study
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2007
Background: Recess provides a daily opportunity for children to engage in moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA). Limited research has investigated the effects of recess-based interventions on physical activity using large sample sizes whilst investigating variables that may influence the intervention effect. The aim of the study was to investigate the short-term effects of a playground markings and physical structures intervention on recess physical activity. A secondary aim was to investigate the effects of covariates on the intervention. Methods: 150 boys and 147 girls were randomly selected from 26 elementary schools to wear uni-axial accelerometers that quantified physical activity every 5 seconds during recess. Fifteen schools located in deprived areas in one large urban city in England received funding through a national initiative to redesign the playground environment. Eleven schools served as matched socioeconomic controls. Data were collected at baseline and 6-weeks following playground intervention. Recess MVPA and VPA levels adjusted for pupil-and school-level covariates (baseline physical activity, age, gender, recess length, body mass index) were analysed using multilevel analyses. Results: Positive but non-significant intervention effects were found for MVPA and VPA when confounding variables were added to the model. Gender was a significant predictor of recess physical activity, with boys engaging in more MVPA and VPA than girls. Significant interactions for MVPA revealed that the intervention effect was stronger for younger elementary aged school children compared to older children, and the intervention effect increased as daily recess duration increased. Conclusion: The playground redesign intervention resulted in small but non-significant increases in children's recess physical activity when school and pupil level variables were added to the analyses. Changing the playground environment produced a stronger intervention effect for younger children, and longer daily recess duration enabled children to engage in more MVPA following the intervention. This study concludes that the process of increasing recess physical activity is complex when school and pupil-level covariates are considered, though they should be taken into account when investigating the effects of playground intervention studies on children's physical activity during recess.
Non-overweight and overweight children's physical activity during school recess
Health Education Journal, 2014
Objective: Little research has investigated children's physical activity levels during school recess and the contribution of recess to school day physical activity levels by weight status. The aims of this study were to examine non-overweight and overweight children's physical activity levels during school recess, and examine the contribution of recess to school day physical activity. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Four elementary schools located in Nebraska, United States of America (USA). Methods: Two hundred and seventeen children (99 boys, 118 girls; 47.9% overweight) wore a uni-axial accelerometer for five consecutive school days during autumn 2009. The proportion of time spent engaged in sedentary (SED), light (LPA), moderate (MPA) and vigorous (VPA) intensity physical activity during recess was determined using age-specific accelerometer thresholds. Results: Overweight children engaged in more %MPA and less %VPA than non-overweight children, respectively. No differences were found between overweight and healthy weight children's moderateto-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Recess contributed 16.9% and 16.3% towards non-overweight and overweight children's school day %MVPA, respectively. Conclusion: Examining %MVPA as an outcome variable may mask differences in recess physical activity levels between non-overweight and overweight children. Future research is needed to establish why healthy weight and overweight children engage in differing levels of %MPA and %VPA during recess.