An analysis of physical activity levels of children following the balanced school day schedule

Abstract

Background: Physical activity is a key determinant of children’s health. However, increasingly children are not attaining adequate amounts of physical activity. Children spend a considerable amount of time at school and school-based physical activity can significantly contribute to total daily physical activity achieved by children. Specifically, recess time can significantly contribute to a child’s daily opportunity to attain the recommended 60 minutes of physical activity per day. In this thesis, I assessed the impact of block scheduling on physical activity levels during recess for children in grades 3 and 6. More specifically, I examined the impact of time of day (am vs. pm) and season (fall vs. winter) on levels of recess-based physical activity among children using the “Balanced School Day” schedule. Methods: Data were collected at a school using the Balanced School Day schedule over five consecutive days during fall and winter in a school from a community in northern Ontario. Children wore the Yamax SW-200 pedometer and a segmented data collection approach to assess step counts during ‘class-time’ and ‘recess-time’ was used. Results: Seventy-eight students participated in this study. Average daily steps were higher in the fall compared to the winter. There were no meaningful differences in the number of steps taken when considering time of day. Boys accumulated significantly more steps than girls for total recess steps regardless of season. Grade 3 students experienced the greatest decrease in steps seasonally. Conclusions: As a result of this study, we have reaffirmed that children are not maximizing opportunities for physical activity during the school day. In general, lower step counts are noted among girls and grade 6 students. We can also conclude that the recess schedule (i.e. morning vs. iv afternoon) does not affect physical activity during recess in children using the BSD; however, there is a seasonal influence. All children were less active in the winter recess when compared to the fall and this was particularly accentuated among the younger participants.