Providing Daily Physical Education to Improve the Health and Fitness Levels of African American Youth

Abstract

Background: The purpose was to examine the effects of 45 minutes of daily physical education on the fitness performance of African American elementary and middle school youth. Methods: A pre/post-test design was used with repeated measures analysis of variance. Experimental and control school participants were pre-tested (September 2010) and post-tested (May 2011) on the FitnessgramR physical fitness items (e.g., aerobic capacity, muscular strength and muscular endurance). Results: Experimental elementary school females and males significantly improved on all sections of FitnessgramR’s fitness battery at the post-test assessment; whereas, there were no significant improvements among control elementary school females. Experimental elementary school females improved on aerobic capacity and push-ups significantly more than control elementary school females (P=0.025, P<0.0001, respectively). Experimental elementary school males improved on aerobic capacity, curl-ups, and push-ups significantly more than control elementary school males (P=0.048, P=0.0002, P=0.048, respectively). Consequently, experimental middle school females improved on these two assessments significantly more than control middle school females (P<0.0001, P<0.0001, respectively). Experimental middle school males significantly improved on all sections of FitnessgramR’s fitness battery at post-assessment; control middle school males only significantly improved on pushups. Conclusions: Providing 45 minutes of daily physical education can increase the fitness levels of African American youth.