Abstract
Regulated school days entail less free-living physical activity (PA) and outdoor stay, which may jeopardize the opportunities for cohesive moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and, by extension, children’s health. The role of outdoor stay during school time for pupils’ free-living PA vs. physical education (PE) and indoor stay was studied during one academic year in 196 pupils aged 7–14 years at four schools in mid-southern Sweden during five consecutive days each in September, March, and May. Actigraph GT3X+ Activity monitors were used. Predictors for PA during school stay were expressed as mean daily accelerometer counts and were measured per season, day, grade, gender, weather, and time outdoors. Overall, free-living PA outdoors generated the highest mean accelerometer counts for moderate and vigorous PA. Outdoor PA and PE, representing 23.7% of the total school time contributed to 50.4% of total mean accelerometer counts, and were the greatest contributors to moderate and vigorous PA. Age and weather impacted PA, with less PA in inclement weather and among older pupils. More time outdoors, at all seasons, would favorably increase school children’s chances of reaching recommended levels of PA.
Highlights
Between ages 6–15, children spend most of their waking hours during workdays at school, making the school environment an important factor in maintaining and promoting health by offering sufficient amounts of daily physical activity (PA) [1,2,3]— outdoors where it is beneficial for motor control and vitamin D formation [4]
The transition from preschool to long regulated school days may jeopardize the opportunities for cohesive moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) due to less free-living PA and less outdoor stay, thereby increasing the risk of developing unhealthy conditions that increasingly manifest themselves before puberty [10,11]
Indoor stay, and in comparison to in all grades during all seasons, both in terms of mean is the amount of time spent outdoors [33,34], and our results indicate the significance of outdoor time accelerometer counts commonly-reported on school children’s for increased PA
Summary
Between ages 6–15, children spend most of their waking hours during workdays at school, making the school environment an important factor in maintaining and promoting health (amongst others) by offering sufficient amounts of daily physical activity (PA) [1,2,3]— outdoors where it is beneficial for motor control and vitamin D formation [4]. The transition from preschool to long regulated school days may jeopardize the opportunities for cohesive moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) due to less free-living PA and less outdoor stay, thereby increasing the risk of developing unhealthy conditions that increasingly manifest themselves before puberty [10,11]. As children move before and between classes, as well as during classes (depending on the subject of the lesson, etc.), PA outside recess is relevant School day segments such as scheduled recess and PE have been identified as an area to endorse pupils’ PA. To explore the contribution of various scenarios to PA—and the chances for pupils to obtain recommended levels of PA—the role of pupils’ free-living PA and PE in- and outdoors during school time was studied during one academic year
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