The contribution of dance to daily physical activity among adolescent girls
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RESEARCH
Open Access
The contribution of dance to daily physical activity among adolescent girls Jennifer R O’Neill1*, Russell R Pate1 and Steven P Hooker1,2
Abstract Background: Structured physical activity (PA) programs are well positioned to promote PA among youth, however, little is known about these programs, particularly dance classes. The aims of this study were to: 1) describe PA levels of girls enrolled in dance classes, 2) determine the contribution of dance classes to total moderate-tovigorous physical activity (MVPA), and 3) compare PA between days with a dance class (program days) and days without a dance class (non-program days). Methods: Participants were 149 girls (11-18 years) enrolled in dance classes in 11 dance studios. Overall PA was assessed with accelerometry for 8 consecutive days, and girls reported when they attended dance classes during those days. The percent contribution of dance classes to total MVPA was calculated, and data were reduced to compare PA on program days to non-program days. Data were analyzed using mixed models, adjusting for total monitoring time. Results: Girls engaged in 25.0 ± 0.9 minutes/day of MVPA. Dance classes contributed 28.7% (95% CI: 25.9%-31.6%) to girls’ total MVPA. Girls accumulated more MVPA on program (28.7 ± 1.4 minutes/day) than non-program days (16.4 ± 1.5 minutes/day) (p < 0.001). Girls had less sedentary behavior on program (554.0 ± 8.1 minutes/day) than non-program days (600.2 ± 8.7 minutes/day) (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Dance classes contributed a substantial proportion (29%) to girls’ total MVPA, and girls accumulated 70% more MVPA and 8% less sedentary behavior on program days than on non-program days. Dance classes can make an important contribution to girls’ total physical activity. Keywords: accelerometer, children, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, light activity, sedentary behavior
Background Helping youth achieve the current physical activity guideline of at least 60 minutes of daily moderate-tovigorous physical activity (MVPA) is a key public health objective for the 21 st century [1]. Structured physical activity programs are major avenues for providing physical activity to youth, and as such, they are a recommended strategy for the promotion of physical activity [1-3]. Structured physical activity programs are organized activities that are typically planned and occur within a specific setting [4]. These programs include physical education classes, organized sports, activity classes or lessons, and after-school programs. * Correspondence: [email protected] 1 Department of Exercise Science, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina, (921 Assembly Street Suite 212), Columbia, (29208), SC, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Although structured physical activity programs are well positioned to assist youth in meeting the physical activity guideline, little is known about these programs. Specifically, there is limited knowledge of the overall physical activity levels of
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