An observational assessment of physical activity levels and social behaviour during elementary school recess Roberts, Simon J., Fairclough, Stuart J., Ridgers, Nicola D. and Porteous, Conor 2013, An observational assessment of physical activity levels and social behaviour during elementary school recess, Health education journal, vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 254-262, doi: 10.1177/0017896912439126. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title An observational assessment of physical activity levels and social behaviour during elementary school recess Author(s) Roberts, Simon J. Fairclough, Stuart J. Ridgers, Nicola D. orcid.org/0000-0001-5713-3515 Porteous, Conor Journal name Health education journal Volume number 72 Issue number 3 Start page 254 End page 262 Total pages 9 Publisher Sage Publications Place of publication London, England Publication date 2013-05 ISSN 0017-8969 1748-8176 Keyword(s) physical activity recess school children The System for Observing Children’s Activity and Relationships during Play (SOCARP) systematic observation Summary Objective: The purpose of the present study was to assess children’s physical activity, social play behaviour, activity type and social interactions during elementary school recess using a pre-validated systematic observation system. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: Two elementary schools located in Merseyside, England. Method: Fifty-six elementary school children (27 boys, 29 girls) were systematically observed during recess over a three-month period using a standardized physical activity observation instrument. Results: The results revealed the boys were engaged in significantly higher levels of physical activity during recess than girls. The boys were also involved in more sport-specific activities and participated in larger group sizes. Positive associations between physical activity and availability of equipment during recess were also reported. Conclusion: This study has confirmed recess as a valuable opportunity for elementary school children to increase their levels of physical activity. However, further studies with larger sample sizes need to identify and explore the relationship between physical activity (PA) and availability of equipment. Language eng DOI 10.1177/0017896912439126 Field of Research 110699 Human Movement and Sports Science not elsewhere classified Socio Economic Objective 920401 Behaviour and Health HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30052484 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Health Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Tue, 14 May 2013, 12:22:23 EST Wed, 15 May 2013, 08:58:33 EST Wed, 15 May 2013, 11:53:07 EST Wed, 15 May 2013, 12:00:40 EST Thu, 16 May 2013, 09:09:52 EST Thu, 16 May 2013, 09:10:34 EST Fri, 17 May 2013, 09:34:10 EST Mon, 20 May 2013, 15:54:49 EST Mon, 20 May 2013, 15:55:47 EST Mon, 20 May 2013, 15:56:22 EST Fri, 13 Jun 2014, 17:21:51 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 19 times in TR Web of Science Cited 19 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 625 Abstract Views, 4 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Tue, 14 May 2013, 12:22:13 EST by Jane Moschetti