Abstract
Adolescence is a crucial time in the development and maintenance of lifestyle habits. Interventions to improve health-related behaviors are important, including those that can contribute to an increase in physical activity (PA). During adolescence, PA typically decreases with age, particularly in girls. The FitSpirit program offers services that help Canadian schools from Quebec and Ontario implement PA interventions for adolescent girls. This study aimed to evaluate changes in participants’ PA levels and lifestyle habits (sedentary time, sleep duration and eating habits) and to assess whether these changes depended on adherence to the Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines and Canada’s Food Guide recommendations at enrollment. At the time of FitSpirit registration (between December 2018 and March 2019) and in May/June 2019, 73 participants answered online questionnaires. The participants reported improvements, with an increase in the number of days with PA and a decrease in daily consumption of sweets. The greatest changes were observed in those who did not adhere to the Canadian recommendations before enrollment and who significantly increased their number of days with PA and their consumption of fruits and vegetables, and decreased their screen time. In conclusion, participation in FitSpirit improved several health behaviors among adolescent girls, particularly those who did not comply with the Canadian recommendations at enrollment.
Highlights
As young children and adolescents grow and develop, the benefits of healthful lifestyle habits are numerous
Levels and improvements in sedentary behaviors, sleep duration and eating habits, and (2) the lifestyle changes would be associated with adherence to the Canadian recommendations before enrollment in the program, and the magnitude of changes would be greater for girls with poorer adherence to the recommendations at the beginning of the program
Most studies have evaluated the interventions’ effects on physical activity (PA) levels, but very few have assessed lifestyle changes, such as eating habits and sleep patterns [40,41]. This is the first study to evaluate the effects of a PA intervention on a wide range of lifestyle habits, including PA, screen time, sleep patterns and eating habits, in a Canadian multi-component program designed to help schools implement PA
Summary
As young children and adolescents grow and develop, the benefits of healthful lifestyle habits are numerous. Adolescence is a crucial period for the development and maintenance of healthful lifestyle habits, and much emphasis has been placed on interventions to improve health-related behaviors at a young age [24,25,26] This is especially important, given that PA decreases with age, especially in girls, whereas sedentary behaviors increase [26,27,28]. (1) participation in FitSpirit would promote healthful lifestyles in adolescent girls, including higher PA levels and improvements in sedentary behaviors, sleep duration and eating habits, and (2) the lifestyle changes would be associated with adherence to the Canadian recommendations before enrollment in the program, and the magnitude of changes would be greater for girls with poorer adherence to the recommendations at the beginning of the program
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