A combination of school physical activity programs and physical activity levels of elementary students during school hours: Suburban cook county CPPW

Purpose: to compare time spent in moderate- to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA time) during school hours according to a combination of school PA programs offered on the day, such as physical education (PE) class, recess, and classroom activity breaks, among elementary school students. Methods: The Suburban Cook County Community Putting Prevention to Work site assessed PA levels of 5th and 6th graders in 12 elementary schools during school hours for four consecutive days using accelerometers. Presence of PE class, recess, and classroom activity breaks on each of accelerometer measurement days was recorded by classroom teachers. Gender-specific multilevel linear regression models were used to compare MVPA time during school hours according to a combination of PA programs offered on the day, adjusted for monitor wear time, school race/ethnicity, and grade. Results: Accelerometry data analysis included 1725 valid day data from 505 student participants (49% girls). All participating schools had the every day recess policy. Students, on average, engaged in more MVPA (10 minutes more for boys and 7 minutes more for girls; Ps < 0.01) on the day with PE and recess, compared to the day with recess only. Adding classroom activity breaks in addition to recess did not significantly increase students' MVPA engagement. Conclusion: This evalution supports that multi-component school PA policy interventions, such as PE combined with recess or classroom activity breaks, increase MVPA during school hours among the school-aged children. However, recess and classroom activity breaks may not have additive effects on increasing elementary students' MVPA.