Physical Activity Levels During Physical Education Lessons And Their Contribution To Total Physical Activity

Abstract

For a growing number of children, physical activity (PA) during physical education lessons (PE) provides the main opportunity for being physically active. Although PA levels during PE have been shown to be relatively low, we do not know the contribution of PA during PE to overall PA. PURPOSE: to assess different aspects of PA during regular PE lessons and to determine whether PE is effective at contributing to overall daily PA in primary school children. METHODS: Accelerometer measurements in 781/900 children (6 to 13 years old) over 4-7 days were done in of 59 randomly selected 1st and 5th grade classes. PA during PE with the amount of moderate-and-vigorous PA (MVPA; ≥2000 counts/min) during PE, total daily MVPA, and a comparison of days with and without PE was made by using a mixed linear regression model with sex, grade and overweight status (normal vs. overweight) as fixed factors and school class as random factor. RESULTS: Valid accelerometer data were available in 676 children (9.3 (SD 2.1) years old, 43% 1st grade, 51% females, 23% overweight). Children spent 32.8 (15.1) % of PE time in MVPA (16.7 min of a maximum of 49.9 min). There was a significant gender influence (B-coefficient 6.6 (95%-CI 5.0 to 8.2) in favour of the boys, whereas overweight and normal weight children did not differ. MVPA during PE accounted for 16.8 (8.5) % of total day MVPA. Irrespective of gender, grade and weight status, children were significantly more active (difference: 16.1 (29.0) minutes of MVPA; p≤0.001) on days with PE than on days without PE. CONCLUSION: Although PA levels during PE are low, PE has an important role in providing PA for children, especially for overweight children. Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant PMPDB-114401) and Swiss Federal Office of Sports (Grant SWI05-013).