Physical Activity Breaks Research Articles

Promoting Physical Activity Participation among Children and Adolescents

With global increases in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents, there has never been a more urgent need for effective physical activity programs. The aim of this narrative review is to summarize the evidence of the effectiveness of interventions that report physical activity outcomes in children aged 4-12 years and adolescents aged 13-19 years. A systematic search of electronic databases identified 76 interventions. Most interventions were delivered via the school setting (57 interventions), nine through the family setting, six via primary care, and four in community- or Internet-based settings. Children's physical activity interventions that were most effective in the school setting included some focus on physical education, activity breaks, and family strategies. Interventions delivered in the family setting were not highly effective, but many were pilot studies. The use of motivationally tailored strategies and program delivery in the primary care setting showed promise among adolescents. Many studies had methodological and reporting flaws (e.g., no baseline data, poor study design, physical activity measures of unknown reliability and validity, and poor reporting of sample size, response rates, attrition/retention, compliance, year of intervention, and duration of intervention). Publications reporting the results of evaluations of intervention studies should follow the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials guidelines or, for nonrandomized studies, should follow the Transparent Reporting of Evaluations with Nonrandomized Designs guidelines. Further evidence of the effectiveness of interventions promoting young people's physical activity in family and community settings is needed.

A school-based physical activity program to improve health and fitness in children aged 6-13 years ("Kinder-Sportstudie KISS"): study design of a randomized controlled trial [ISRCTN15360785

BackgroundChildhood obesity is the result of a long lasting imbalance between energy intake and energy expenditure. A major contributing factor is physical inactivity which is closely linked to bone health, cardiovascular disease risk, fitness and psychological factors. The school seems to provide an excellent setting to enhance levels of physical activity (PA). However, there is insufficient data from previous school-based intervention trials on how to enhance overall PA. It is also unknown whether an intervention aimed at increasing PA is effective in improving the children's health. The purpose of this paper is to outline the design of a school-based randomized, controlled trial (RCT) aiming to increase overall PA and to improve fitness and health in 6- to 13-year-old children.Methods/Design15 schools were randomized to the intervention (n = 9) or the control (n = 6) group, stratified by geographic region (urban vs. rural) and by age (1st and 5th grade). Participation was given for all children in the intervention group since in this group the intervention was part of the normal school curriculum. The intervention during one academic year consisted of: 1. two additional physical education classes per week given by trained physical education teachers adding up to a total of five PA classes per week, 2. short PA breaks (2–5 min each) during academic lessons, 3. PA home work, and 4. adaptation of recreational areas around the school. All children underwent anthropometric measurements, blood pressure assessment, fitness testing, measurement of PA and they filled out questionnaires. At least 70% of all children agreed to blood sampling and measurements of body composition and bone mineral measurements by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. The primary endpoints of the study after one year were an increase in total PA by accelerometry, an increase in aerobic fitness measured by the 20 m shuttle run, a decrease in percent body fat derived from skinfold measurements and an increase in quality of life as assessed by the child health questionnaire in the intervention group compared to the control group. Secondary outcomes were overall fitness, differences in body composition including body fat distribution, cardiovascular risk factors, psychosocial health, bone mineral content and density of femur, lumbar spine and total body and food intake.DiscussionOur preliminary data suggest that the children were representative of Swiss children with respect to sex, socio-demographic status, and body mass index. Short-term results can be expected by the beginning of 2007. We hypothesized that our intervention will lead to an increase in PA, fitness and overall health. Based on our data, we aim to provide important information regarding the influence of such an intervention on these outcome measures in school-aged children and to provide nationwide guidelines to improve PA in children.

A New You: Health for Every Body: Helping Adults Adopt a Health-Centered Approach to Well-Being

A New You: Health for Every Body is a health-focused, multimethod, experiential curriculum built around the principles of pleasurable and healthful eating, enjoyment of physically active living, and respect for body-size diversity. It creates a framework to help participants move away from unhealthy attitudes and behaviors in the areas of food and eating, physical activity, and body image and into a gentler, nondiet approach to well-being based on enjoyment of active living in a healthy body.The goal is for participants to develop new attitudes and gain new knowledge and skills to live and enjoy a healthy lifestyle (see the Program Philosophy sidebar). As shown in Table 1, the curriculum is organized into 10 1-hour sessions, with 1 supplemental lesson. However, there is flexibility for combining and adding lessons and activities, and guidance is provided for teaching the program in 4 2-hour sessions. The interactive lessons use a variety of audio/visual media, discussions, and small-group processes. Each lesson incorporates a physical activity break to get participants moving (Figures 1 and 2). “Words of wisdom” or WOW (quotations selected from WIN the Rockies qualitative research, which involved collection of people’s narratives or life stories) are incorporated into lessons and activities, adding context to and perspectives on the lesson topics.“On your own learning” activities provide opportunities for participants to practice the concepts taught after they leave the class and prepare for the next class. Educational and Theoretical Underpinnings

The effects of the Pathways Obesity Prevention Program on physical activity in American Indian children

Background Inadequate opportunities for physical activity at school and overall low levels of activity contribute to the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in American-Indian children. Methods A school-based physical activity intervention was implemented which emphasized increasing the frequency and quality of physical education (PE) classes and activity breaks. Changes in physical activity were assessed using the TriTrac-R3D accelerometer in a subsample of 580 of the students (34%) randomly selected from the Pathways study cohort. Baseline measures were completed with children in second grade. Follow-up measurements were obtained in the spring of the fifth grade. Results Intervention schools were more active (+6.3 to +27.2%) than control schools at three of the four sites, although the overall difference between intervention and control schools (∼10%) was not significant ( P > 0.05). Boys were more active than girls by 17 to 21% ( P ≤ .01) at both baseline and follow-up. Conclusions Despite the trend for greater physical activity at three of four study sites, and an overall difference of ∼10% between intervention and control schools, high variability in accelerometer AVM and the opportunity to measure physical activity on only 1 day resulted in a the failure to detect the difference as significant.