Abstract
BackgroundEvidence shows the positive influence of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and negative influence of sedentary time on health and academic achievement. Although schools can significantly contribute to overall physical activity, little is known about MVPA and sedentary behaviour in different school subjects in different grades.MethodsPhysical activity of 646 students from 18 schools (94 classes) and from three school stages (grades 1–9, aged 7–16) was measured with accelerometry for 5 school days. Time and proportion of MVPA and sedentary time, also average sedentary bout length was calculated for native language (Estonian), mathematics, science, foreign language, music and crafts lessons.ResultsA total of 6363 lessons were measured, with lesson duration of 45 min. The average lesson time MVPA remained below 2.2 min in all school stages and in all subjects. Students in grades 4–6 had greatest decline in the proportion of lesson time MVPA in science (β = −1.9, 95%CI −3.1– -0.6) and music (−1.2, −2.1– -0.4) and in grades 7–9 in music (−1.7, −3.1– -0.3) lessons compared to grades 1–3. In grades 1–3 students spent on average 76% of lesson time (34.0 ± 7.0 min) as sedentary, whereas in grades 7–9 the average proportion of sedentary time was 87% (38.9 ± 5.7 min). An average sedentary bout length increased from 13 min in grades 1–3 to 20 min in grades 7–9. An increase in sedentary bout length from grades 1–3 compared to grades 7–9 was present in most subjects, except crafts, with smallest increase in foreign language (6 min, 3.5–8.9) and greatest in music lessons (16.6 min, 11.9–21.3). Lessons with prolonged sedentary bouts formed a maximum 36% of all lessons in grades 1–3 and 73% in grades 7–9.ConclusionThe long sedentary time, bout length and low MVPA in most subjects were unfavourable in respect of both health and academic achievement. Significantly increasing sedentary time and sedentary bout length in older school stages highlights the need for interventions in all subjects and especially in older grades in order to combat the inactivity of children.
Highlights
Evidence shows the positive influence of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and negative influence of sedentary time on health and academic achievement
In grades 7–9 smaller proportion of MVPA was acquired in music (−1.7, −3.1– -0.3) lessons compared to grades 1–3
We demonstrated that the sedentary behaviour throughout the basic school changed in unfavourable direction – the sedentary time, the average length of sedentary bouts and the proportion of prolonged sedentary bouts increased with school stages in most subjects
Summary
Evidence shows the positive influence of moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and negative influence of sedentary time on health and academic achievement. There is a growing body of evidence highlighting the importance of physical activity and physical fitness on cognition [4], on-task behaviour [5,6,7] and academic achievement [8,9,10]. Sedentary behaviour has been identified as an independent health risk factor [11, 12] and associated with increased mortality risk in adults [13, 14]. The physical activity of European children remain low [18] and increasing the physical activity levels and decreasing sedentary time of children remains a great challenge in public health
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