Classroom Active Breaks to Increase Children's Physical Activity: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Province of Naples, Italy.

Francesca Gallè,Maria Imoletti,Roberta Ricchiuti,Espedita Muscariello,Carmelina Sorrentino,Serena Sensi,Giorgio Liguori,Patrizia Calella,Teresa Mastantuono,Giuliana Valerio,Pierluigi Pecoraro,Giuseppe Cerullo

doi:10.3390/ijerph17186599

Abstract

Background: Classroom Active Breaks (CABs), short active sessions integrated in the school time, have been recognized as a promising tool to reduce sedentary behavior and increase Physical Activity (PA) levels in children. “AulAttiva” is a six-month CABs-based program implemented in primary schools of the province of Naples. The aim of this study was to evaluate its effectiveness by comparing PA and sedentary time of participating pupils respect to a control group, considering also their weight status. Methods: Four third-grade classes, each from 4 schools out of 32 participating in AulAttiva, and 4 third-grade classes, each from 4 schools out of 74 that did not take part, were randomly selected. Finally, 58 children composed the intervention group and 57 the control group. Age, gender, weight and height were registered for each participant. Weight status was classified as non-overweight and overweight/obesity. Sedentary time and PA were assessed through accelerometers along a school day. Results: Light PA was 4 min higher in the AulAttiva group with respect to controls (p = 0.046). Within the non-overweight children, the AulAttiva group spent less time in sedentary behavior and more time in light and total PA than controls. No significant differences were found between the overweight/obese subgroups. Conclusions: The results support the effectiveness of CABs in increasing PA during the school day. Greater effects were registered among normal weight pupils, suggesting the possible influence of weight status on children’s participation to the intervention. Further studies are needed to improve the compliance of overweight/obese children to this intervention.

Highlights

Children’s levels of physical activity (PA) and time spent in sedentary behaviors are far from the recommendations in Italy, where only 9.5% of boys and 2.6% of girls meet the recommended60 min/day of moderate-to-vigorous Physical Activity (PA) [1] and about 50% of 11-year-old children exceed the limit of two hours per day of recreational screen time [2]
Prolonged sedentary time in children may have a significant impact on health, since it is independently associated with weight status and obesity [3]
The comparison between BMI subgroups showed a higher prevalence of males in control overweight/obese children (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

Children’s levels of physical activity (PA) and time spent in sedentary behaviors are far from the recommendations in Italy, where only 9.5% of boys and 2.6% of girls meet the recommended60 min/day of moderate-to-vigorous PA [1] and about 50% of 11-year-old children exceed the limit of two hours per day of recreational screen time [2]. Children’s levels of physical activity (PA) and time spent in sedentary behaviors are far from the recommendations in Italy, where only 9.5% of boys and 2.6% of girls meet the recommended. Prolonged sedentary time in children may have a significant impact on health, since it is independently associated with weight status and obesity [3]. Classroom Active Breaks (CABs), short active sessions integrated in the school time, have been recognized as a promising tool to reduce sedentary behavior and increase Physical. The aim of this study was to evaluate its effectiveness by comparing PA and sedentary time of participating pupils respect to a control group, considering their weight status. Results: Light PA was 4 min higher in the AulAttiva group with respect to controls (p = 0.046)

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Discussion

Conclusion