Physical Activity Opportunities In Schools Research Articles

Association Between Adolescent Self-Reported Physical Activity Behaviors and Feeling Close to People at School During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The disruption of school operations and routines caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected students' physical and emotional well-being. Providing physical activity opportunities in schools can encourage students to positively engage with each other. Using a nationally representative sample of U.S. high school students from the Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (January to June 2021), we examined the association between physical activity behaviors and feeling close to people at school using sex-stratified and race/ethnicity-stratified multiple linear regressions models. Participating in team sports, being more physically active, and attending physical education (PE) during an average week were all associated with higher levels of feeling close to people at school, with variation by sex and race/ethnicity. These associations were also significant when the physical activity behavior variables were categorized to reflect national recommendations. Daily physical activity (i.e., ≥60 minutes all 7 days), daily PE (i.e., attended all 5 days), and the number of Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) components implemented were associated with higher levels of feeling close to people at school. These findings suggest that opportunities for physical activity before, during, and after school are associated with increased levels of feeling close to people at school during crises like COVID-19.

Physical activity and academic achievement: an analysis of potential student- and school-level moderators

BackgroundMany children do not engage in sufficient physical activity, and schools provide a unique venue for children to reach their recommended 60 daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Prior research examining effects of MVPA on academic achievement is inconclusive, and few studies have investigated potential moderators of this relationship. This study examined whether student-level characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, free/reduced-price lunch status) and school-level characteristics (proportion of students qualifying for free/reduced-price lunch, physical activity environment and opportunities) moderate the relationship between MVPA and academic achievement.MethodsIn a large, diverse metropolitan public school district in Georgia, 4,936 students in Grade 4 were recruited from 40 elementary schools. Students wore accelerometers to measure school-day MVPA for a total of 15 days across three semesters (fall 2018, spring 2019, fall 2019). Academic achievement data, including course marks (grades) for math, reading, spelling, and standardized test scores in writing, math, reading, and Lexile (reading assessment), were collected at baseline (Grade 3, ages 8–9) and at follow-up in Grade 4 (ages 9–10). Standardized test scores were not measured in Grade 5 (ages 10–11) due to COVID-19-related disruptions. Multilevel modeling assessed whether student-level and/or school-level characteristics were moderators in the cross-sectional and longitudinal MVPA-academic achievement relationship.ResultsCross sectional analyses indicated that the MVPA and AA relationship was moderated only by student Hispanic ethnicity for Grade 4 fall spelling marks (β = -0.159 p < 0.001). The relationship for Grade 4 fall spelling marks was also moderated by school physical activity opportunities (β = -0.128 (p < 0.001). Longitudinally, there was no significant moderation of the MVPA-academic achievement. A relationship by student gender, free/reduced-price lunch status, race/ethnicity; nor for school-level factors including proportion of students qualifying for free/reduced-price lunch, physical activity environment, and physical activity opportunities.ConclusionsOverall, our results did not suggest that student- or school-level characteristics moderate the MVPA-academic achievement relationship. While statistically significant results were observed for certain outcomes, practical differences were negligible. In this population, school-based MVPA does not appear to differently affect academic performance based on student gender, race/ethnicity, free/reduced-price lunch, nor school characteristics.Trial registrationThis study was registered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) ClinicalTrials.gov system, with ID NCT03765047. Registered 05 December 2018—Retrospectively registered.

Physical Education and Physical Activity Within a Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child Approach

The purpose of this article is to introduce the Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program (CSPAP) model as the physical education (PE) and physical activity (PA) component of the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model. CSPAP consists of five core elements including quality PE, PA during school, PA before/after school, staff involvement, and family & community engagement, with quality PE serving as the cornerstone. There are extensive resources to support the implementation of CSPAP in schools from organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Springboard to Active Schools, and SHAPE America – Society of Health and Physical Educators. Health and physical education (HPE) professionals interested in promoting PE and PA in schools should focus on four main strategies: (1) ensure quality PE, (2) follow the steps in the CDC’s CSPAP Guide, (3) advocate for PE and PA at the school, district, and state levels, and (4) participate in continuing professional development related to the five components of CSPAP. For physical education teacher education (PETE) programs wishing to support CSPAP, it is essential to first develop high quality PE teachers. Then, they can consider a variety of strategies for extending preservice teacher learning to other school PA opportunities through integrated coursework and alternative field experiences. One key to successful CSPAP implementation is collaboration with community members outside of the school, including universities. The article concludes with a hypothetical example of how a school could integrate the strategies outlined here.

Development and Interrater Reliability of an Observational School Environment Checklist: A Practical, Comprehensive Tool to Assess Healthy Eating and Physical Activity Opportunities in Schools.

Comprehensive, objective assessment of schools' eating and physical activity environments is critical to developing and evaluating policies and interventions to reduce pediatric obesity inequities; however, few tools exist that describe the entire school comprehensively and are feasible with restricted resources. This study describes development and reliability of the observational school environment checklist (OSEC), a comprehensive observational audit tool. We developed the OSEC through iterative adaptations of existing instruments and pilot testing. The tool assesses four focus areas: cafeteria, lobby/hallway, gym, and outdoor areas. For reliability testing, two trained auditors independently completed the OSEC and met to resolve disagreements. For items with poor agreement, a third independent coder coded photographs taken during auditing. Percent agreement and Cohen's kappa were calculated for all items and across four evidence-based constructs: atmosphere, accessibility, attractiveness, and advertising. After iterative development, the 88-item OSEC was tested for reliability in 18 schools. Items with poor (<80%) agreement or redundancy were discarded or reworded (n = 16 items). All four constructs had acceptable agreement, ranging by focus area: 72.3% (attractiveness), 86.3% to 97.1% (atmosphere), 82.9% to 100% (accessibility), and 92.9% (advertising). Cohen's kappa ranges were acceptable: 0.66-0.91 (atmosphere), 0.60-1.00 (accessibility), 0.46 (attractiveness), and 0.77 (advertising). After adding similar items across domains (n = 49) to improve comprehensiveness, the final tool contained 121 binary items. The OSEC reliably and comprehensively captures the school environment. It requires few resources or expertise to administer, has acceptable reliability, and can assess atmosphere, accessibility, attractiveness, and advertising in school areas where students engage in eating and physical activity.

Experiences in physical education and sport: reflections of female athletes with visual impairments

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to understand how individuals identifying as female, an athlete and having a visual impairment experience physical education and sport experiences. An interpretative phenomenological analysis research approach was adopted, and four female athletes with visual impairments aged 23–28-years-old acted as participants. The study utilised two sources of data: semi-structured, audio-taped, telephone/video call interviews and reflective interview notes. Data were analysed thematically using a three-step process and two themes were constructed (a) Physical education was ‘just a credit’ and (b) ‘If you enjoy this, we will drive you’. The participants reported that they did not have meaningful physical education experiences. Interestingly, however, the participants noted that these poor experiences were not critical to them, as they had developed a sense of athletic identity in others, outside of school physical activity opportunities supported by family.

Elementary school physical activity opportunities and physical fitness of students: A statewide cross-sectional study of schools.

BackgroundUsing a cross-sectional design, we assessed the relationship between the time schools provide for physical activity and the proportion of students achieving a healthy aerobic capacity or body mass index.MethodsIn 2013–2014, physical education and grade-level teachers from 905 of 1,244 Georgia elementary schools provided survey data about the frequency and duration of physical activity opportunities offered before, during, and after school. Log-binomial models related the weekly physical activity minutes provided by schools to the proportion of children in the FitnessGram healthy fitness zone for aerobic capacity or body mass index while adjusting for school characteristics and demographics.ResultsDuring-school physical activity time was not associated with student fitness, but schools with before-school physical activity programs had a moderately higher prevalence of healthy aerobic capacity (prevalence ratio among girls: 1.06; 99% confidence interval: 1.00–1.13; prevalence ratio among boys: 1.03; 99% confidence interval: 0.99–1.08). Each additional 30 minutes of recess per week was associated with no more than a 3%-higher proportion of students with healthy body mass indexes (prevalence ratio among girls: 1.01; 99% confidence interval: 1.00–1.03; prevalence ratio among boys: 1.01; 99% confidence interval: 0.99–1.03).ConclusionsThe amount of physical activity time provided by schools is not strongly associated with school-aggregated student fitness. Future studies should be designed to assess the importance of school-based physical activity time on student fitness, relative to physical activity type and quality.

The association of children’s participation in school physical activity opportunities with classroom conduct

Studies consistently demonstrate that providing children with physical activity opportunities in the classroom is related to reduced off-task behavior. This study evaluated the impact of different activity opportunities on teacher redirects of student off-task behaviors in the academic classroom. Observations (n = 13,682) of teacher redirects and activity opportunities across the school day were conducted in one low-income school. A multi-level mixed effects logistic regression explored the likelihood of observing teacher redirects following activity opportunities. Teacher redirects were less likely to occur for up to 60 min following physical activity opportunities in the classroom. Physical activity opportunities outside of the classroom did not reduce teacher redirects. Classroom-based physical activity is a potential strategy for reducing teacher redirects of off-task behavior.

Impact of a Georgia elementary school-based intervention on physical activity opportunities: A quasi-experimental study

ObjectivesTo assess the impact of Power Up for 30, a flexible, Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program-based state-wide elementary school initiative, on school physical activity opportunities (physical education, recess, in-class physical activity, before-school physical activity, and after-school physical activity) one year after Power Up for 30 training. DesignQuasi-experimental. MethodsIn 2013, all 1333 public Georgia elementary schools were invited to complete the School Physical Activity Survey which assessed school physical activity opportunities. Upon survey completion, schools were invited to attend training. Of the 719 (54%) schools meeting survey response criteria, 300 schools attended training by 9/2014 and 419 schools did not. Between 3/2015–5/2015, 79 trained and 80 untrained schools were randomly selected to receive a follow-up survey assessing the frequency and duration of physical activity opportunities. Analyses, adjusted for baseline physical activity opportunities and school characteristics, compared weekly minutes of physical activity opportunities at follow-up between trained and untrained schools. ResultsIn adjusted analyses at follow-up, trained schools provided 36 more minutes of weekly physical activity opportunities than untrained schools (99% confidence interval: 16–56), particularly during recess (mean difference: 8min per week; 99% confidence interval: 0–17), during in-class breaks (mean difference: 11min per week, 99% confidence interval: 3–20), and before school (mean difference: 8min per week, 99% confidence interval: 4–12). ConclusionsFlexible, multi-component interventions like Power Up for 30 increase physical activity opportunities. If future studies identify that school physical activity opportunities positively impact student physical activity, this model may be a feasible strategy for broad-scale implementation.

Abstract P332: Socio-environmental Influences on Youth Total Sedentary Time: Results From the Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latino Youth

Introduction: Sedentary behavior (SED) is associated with higher obesity and cardiometabolic risk in youth, independent of physical activity. Studies showing the association between screen time and SED among Hispanics/Latinos, have primarily focused on Mexican-origin Hispanics. Additional research is needed to examine other socio-environmental factors that can influence SED among diverse Hispanics/Latinos. This cross-sectional study examined the home-, neighborhood-, and school- environment to identify factors associated with total sedentary time among youth. Methods: Data from 1,104 youth ages 8-16 years and 728 caregivers (mean age 43.1 ± 8.2 years) from four U.S. cities, who participated in the Study of Latino Youth (2012-2014), were examined. Associations between socio-environmental factors (measured by self-report) and total sedentary time (measured by one-week Actical accelerometry) were examined in linear regression models that included MVPA minutes/day, demographic covariates, and accounted for the complex survey design and sampling weights. Results: Mean sedentary time was 10.1 ± 1.8 hours/day. Home environment factors, such as electronics in the bedroom and parent limit setting, were not associated with total sedentary time. Presence of barriers to physical activity in the neighborhood (e.g., muggings, gangs) was associated with 13.4 more minutes of sedentary time per day. Attending a school that never/rarely compared to sometimes offered after school physical activity opportunities was associated with more sedentary time (B=38.0 minutes/day; 95% Confidence Interval: 13.5-62.4). Conclusions: The study findings highlight the need for future research to investigate other sources of sedentary behavior in the home for interventionist to focus on specific SED-based strategies to decrease sedentary time among youth. Minimizing barriers by identifying safe places to be active in participant’s neighborhoods may also support youth to spend less time indoors where sedentary time is prevalent.

Does fitness make the grade? The relationship between elementary students’ physical fitness and academic grades

Background and Objective: Increased emphasis on academic outcomes has reduced the amount of time spent in physical education and other school physical activity opportunities in many schools in the USA. However, physical fitness is a positive predictor of academic performance on standardised tests, and students who perform better on fitness measures may earn higher grades. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between physical fitness and teacher-assigned grades in fourth-grade students and examine whether the relationship is moderated by body composition, gender or ethnic background. Design: Cross-sectional design. Students’ fitness levels were assessed mid-way through the spring semester, and their third-quarter grades were obtained from the schools. Participants and setting: Fourth-grade students ( N = 80; 38 female students; 65 non-Hispanic or Latino) from two elementary schools in the south-western USA. Method: Students completed physical fitness measures using standard procedures from the FITNESSGRAM protocol, and standardised teacher-assigned grades in reading, writing, mathematics, social studies and science were compiled. Linear regression and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were performed to examine the relationship between physical fitness measures and average grades, and examine whether differences in fitness and grades existed between gender, ethnic background and body mass index (BMI) percentile rank. Results: Aerobic fitness, as measured by the number of 20-m Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) laps completed, had a significant influence on reading, writing, mathematics and science grades. There were no significant interactions between aerobic fitness and ethnic background, gender or BMI percentile rank, meaning that aerobic fitness was the largest specific influence on average teacher-assigned grades. Conclusion: Positive associations exist between physical fitness and academic performance, suggesting activities that help children improve their physical fitness ought to be a central component of physical education and broader school physical activity programmes.

Fostering Inclusion and Positive Physical Education Experiences for Overweight and Obese Students

Overweight and obese students are often socially and instructionally excluded from physical education and school physical activity opportunities. This article describes teaching strategies from a study of middle school physical education teachers who are committed to providing effective teaching and positive experiences for overweight and obese students in their physical education programs. Tables list simple and complex strategies that these teachers use in their physical education classes to prevent or address social difficulties for these students, and to help them experience success in skill development, game play and fitness activities. Starting with a mindset that all students can learn, and that physical educators have a responsibility to address students' various needs, teachers can apply strategies at multiple levels of the students' ecology to create more positive experiences for overweight students in their own unique situations.

International Approaches to Whole-of-School Physical Activity Promotion

Increasing physical activity opportunities in schools has emerged as a global priority among school-aged youth. As a result, many countries have designed and implemented whole-of-school physical activity initiatives that seek to increase physical activity opportunities that are available to school-aged children before, during, and after school. Considering the comprehensive school physical activity program conceptual framework, this article includes a discussion of the initiatives from four countries: Finland (Finnish Schools on the Move), Ireland (Active School Flag), Poland (PE with Class), and the United States (Let’s Move Active Schools). Background information, implementation strategies, best practices, development opportunities, and relevant research from each country will be presented. Exploring different perspectives sheds some light on the international landscape relative to whole-of-school physical activity promotion and provides direction for future and continued research and practice.

The National Physical Activity Plan: a call to action from the American Heart Association: a science advisory from the American Heart Association.

The health benefits of regular physical activity and the relation between physical inactivity and chronic disease morbidity and mortality are well established. Also clear is the fact that efforts to increase physical activity at the population level will require collective action by government, nongovernment, for-profit, and nonprofit entities working together at the local, state, and national levels. The US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP), developed by the National Physical Activity Plan Alliance, of which the American Heart Association (AHA) is a member, is designed to facilitate this collective action, to help organizations from all sectors of society work together to increase physical activity in all segments of the American population. The purposes of this advisory are to summarize the data that describe the health benefits of regular physical activity and the public health burden of low levels of physical activity, to describe the NPAP and the role it will play in increasing population levels of physical activity, and to encourage readers of Circulation to join the AHA’s efforts to promote its implementation. As summarized in Table 1, there is substantial evidence supporting the benefits of regular physical activity to prevent a wide variety of disease conditions and to enhance quality of life. Interestingly, there is less of an appreciation of noncardiovascular benefits of lifestyle physical activity and structured exercise, and this is an area of great opportunity for educating the public and healthcare practitioners. View this table: Table 1. The Health Benefits of Regular Physical Activity Physical inactivity is rapidly becoming a major global concern and is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide.2,3 As noted by Kohl and colleagues, “In view of the prevalence, global reach, and health effect of physical inactivity, the issue should be appropriately described as pandemic, with far-reaching health, economic, environmental, and social consequences.”4 According …

Combination of School Physical Activity Opportunities and Student Activity

Combination of School Physical Activity Opportunities and Student Activity

Preventing childhood obesity, phase II feasibility study focusing on South Asians: BEACHeS

ObjectiveTo assess feasibility and acceptability of a multifaceted, culturally appropriate intervention for preventing obesity in South Asian children, and to obtain data to inform sample size for a definitive trial.DesignPhase...

Socioeconomic disparities in elementary school practices and children's physical activity during school.

To examine school socioeconomic status (SES) in relation to school physical activity-related practices and children's physical activity. A cross-sectional design was used for this study. The study was set in 97 elementary schools (63% response rate) in two U.S. regions. Of the children taking part in this study, 172 were aged 10.2 (standard deviation (SD) = 1.5) years; 51.7% were girls, and 69.2% were White non-Hispanic. School physical education (PE) teachers or principals responded to 15 yes/no questions on school physical activity-supportive practices. School SES (low, moderate, high) was derived from the percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. Children's moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during school was measured with accelerometers. School level analyses involved linear and logistic regression; children's MVPA analyses used mixed effects regression. Low-SES schools were less likely to have a PE teacher and had fewer physical activity-supportive PE practices than did high-SES schools (p < .05). Practices related to active travel to school were more favorable at low-SES schools (p < .05). Children attending high-SES schools had 4.4 minutes per day more of MVPA during school than did those at low-SES schools, but this finding was not statistically significant (p = .124). These findings suggest that more low- and moderate-SES elementary schools need PE teachers in order to reduce disparities in school physical activity opportunities and that PE time needs to be supplemented by classroom teachers or other staff to meet guidelines.

248 Physical activity opportunities in schools: findings from the teachers and physical activity study (TAPAS)

248 Physical activity opportunities in schools: findings from the teachers and physical activity study (TAPAS)