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Children’s segment specific moderate to vigorous physical activity through a school-initiated physical activity program

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journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-19, 09:16 authored by Arto Grasten

Background: Since less than one-third of 13-year-olds in many Western countries meet the physical activity guidelines, there is a major need to promote physical activity. The aim of this study was to examine children’s segment specific moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) through the school-initiated program.

Material/Methods: The sample comprised 76 Finnish elementary school children. Accelerometers were used to investigate the patterns of segmented MVPA through 2012-2014. Repeated Measures Analysis was implemented to summarize variability between time and segments of MVPA.

Results: The examination of children’s MVPA revealed that their total, weekend, and before-school activity were significant predictors for their subsequent activity. Children’s MVPA in physical education classes, before- and after-school, and during school breaks decreased through the program. Both girls and boys accumulated the majority of their weekly MVPA during weekdays and out-of-school.

Conclusions: The program proved to be effective in order to sustain children’s total MVPA levels, although physical education, before- and after-school, and recess MVPA decreased through the program. Out-of-school activities seemed to be more important than in-school activities in relation to children’s total MVPA minutes, when they transfer to the higher grades. Attention should be paid to out-of-school, especially weekend, activities.

History

Publication title

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Volume

7

Pagination

19-32

ISSN

2080-1297

Department/School

Faculty of Education

Publisher

Wydawnictwo Uczelniane Akademii Wychowania Fizycznego i Sportu im. Jedrzeja Sniadeckiego

Place of publication

Poland

Rights statement

© Gdansk University of Physical Education and Sport, Poland. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Evaluation of health outcomes

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