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Variables associated with children's physical activity levels during recess : the A-CLASS project

Ridgers, Nicola D., Fairclough, Stuart J. and Stratton, Gareth 2010, Variables associated with children's physical activity levels during recess : the A-CLASS project, International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, vol. 7, no. 74, pp. 1-8.

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Title Variables associated with children's physical activity levels during recess : the A-CLASS project
Author(s) Ridgers, Nicola D.
Fairclough, Stuart J.
Stratton, Gareth
Journal name International journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity
Volume number 7
Issue number 74
Start page 1
End page 8
Publisher BioMed Central Ltd.
Place of publication London, England
Publication date 2010
ISSN 1479-5868
Summary Background
School recess provides a daily opportunity for children to engage in physically active behaviours. However, few studies have investigated what factors may influence children's physical activity levels in this context. Such information may be important in the development and implementation of recess interventions. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between a range of recess variables and children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous physical activity in this context.

Methods
One hundred and twenty-eight children (39% boys) aged 9-10 years old from 8 elementary schools had their physical activity levels observed during school recess using the System for Observing Children's Activity and Relationships during Play (SOCARP). Playground variables data were also collected at this time. Multilevel prediction models identified variables that were significantly associated with children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous physical activity during recess.

Results
Girls engaged in 13.8% more sedentary activity and 8.2% less vigorous activity than boys during recess. Children with no equipment provision during recess engaged in more sedentary activity and less moderate activity than children provided with equipment. In addition, as play space per child increased, sedentary activity decreased and vigorous activity increased. Temperature was a significant negatively associated with vigorous activity.

Conclusions
Modifiable and unmodifiable factors were associated with children's sedentary, moderate and vigorous physical activity during recess. Providing portable equipment and specifying areas for activities that dominate the elementary school playground during recess may be two approaches to increase recess physical activity levels, though further research is needed to evaluate the short and long-term impact of such strategies.
Language eng
Field of Research 110699 Human Movement and Sports Science not elsewhere classified
Socio Economic Objective 920499 Public Health (excl. Specific Population Health) not elsewhere classified
HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal
Copyright notice ©2010, The Authors. Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30030931

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Created: Tue, 26 Oct 2010, 09:49:41 EST by Jane Moschetti