Do Physically Active, Academic Lessons Impact Sedentary Time?

Abstract

Physically active, academic lessons (Texas I-CAN!) are designed to provide 10-15 min. of MVPA. As such, these also have the potential to impact sedentary time in school - either by physical activity behavior being reinforced, further increasing subsequent activity; or by a degree of compensation such that children are less active after intervention lessons. PURPOSE: To determine the extent to which sedentary time varies as a function of in-school physically active, academic lessons. METHODS: In-school physical activity and inactivity data were collected using Actigraph GT1M accelerometers across 8 schools (4 intervention; 4 no intervention control); mean participant age, 9.5 years. Data were collected over one week at pre-intervention and post-intervention (6 mo.). Sedentary time (counts/min < 100) was calculated as average minutes per day (outside of recess and P.E.). RESULTS: Repeated measures ANOVA indicated a marginally significant interaction (P <.09). Paired t-tests indicated that sedentary time significantly increased by 18 min. in the no intervention control condition (P <.001), as compared to a non-significant increase of 6 min. in the intervention condition (P=.19). CONCLUSIONS: The physically active lessons had a marginal impact on sedentary time. Although they prevented the increase in sedentary time found for controls, the difference is roughly equivalent to the intervention lessons (10 min. of MVPA). Thus, while the lessons are sufficient to interrupt sedentary time, additional strategies, such as multiple physically active lessons or standing desks, should be employed to specifically target sedentary behavior.