Children's physical activity levels during school recess: a quasi-experimental intervention study
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Children's physical activity levels during school recess: a quasi-experimental intervention study Nicola D Ridgers*1,3, Gareth Stratton1,3, Stuart J Fairclough2,3 and Jos WR Twisk4,5 Address: 1Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Henry Cotton Campus, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool L3 2ET, UK, 2Centre for Physical and Outdoor Education, Liverpool John Moores University, I.M. Marsh Campus, Barkhill Road, Liverpool, L17 6BD, UK, 3The REACH Group, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK, 4Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands and 5Department of Methodology and Applied Biostatistics, Institute of Health Services, Vrije University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Email: Nicola D Ridgers* - [email protected]; Gareth Stratton - [email protected]; Stuart J Fairclough - [email protected]; Jos WR Twisk - [email protected] * Corresponding author
Published: 21 May 2007 International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2007, 4:19 5868-4-19
doi:10.1186/1479-
Received: 2 August 2006 Accepted: 21 May 2007
This article is available from: http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/4/1/19 © 2007 Ridgers et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons 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.
Abstract Background: Recess provides a daily opportunity for children to engage in moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA). Limited research has investigated the effects of recess-based interventions on physical activity using large sample sizes whilst investigating variables that may influence the intervention effect. The aim of the study was to investigate the short-term effects of a playground markings and physical structures intervention on recess physical activity. A secondary aim was to investigate the effects of covariates on the intervention. Methods: 150 boys and 147 girls were randomly selected from 26 elementary schools to wear uni-axial accelerometers that quantified physical activity every 5 seconds during recess. Fifteen schools located in deprived areas in one large urban city in England received funding through a national initiative to redesign the playground environment. Eleven schools served as matched socioeconomic controls. Data were collected at baseline and 6-weeks following playground intervention. Recess MVPA and VPA levels adjusted for pupil- and school-level covariates (baseline physical activity, age, gender, recess length, body mass index) were analysed using multilevel analyses. Results: Positive but non-significant intervention effects were found for MVPA and VPA when confounding variables were added to the model. Gender was a significant predictor of recess physical activity, with boys enga
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