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Physical Activity Intensity, Lesson Context, and Teacher Interactions During an Unstructured Afterschool Physical Activity Program
Author(s) -
Behrens Timothy K.,
Miller Daniel J.,
Schuna John M.,
Liebert Mina L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of school health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.851
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1746-1561
pISSN - 0022-4391
DOI - 10.1111/josh.12345
Subject(s) - physical activity , context (archaeology) , curriculum , psychology , session (web analytics) , physical education , game play , association (psychology) , socioeconomic status , medical education , physical therapy , pedagogy , medicine , multimedia , computer science , geography , population , environmental health , world wide web , psychotherapist , archaeology
BACKGROUND Afterschool programs are promising arenas to improve youth physical activity ( PA ) levels. During the school year for 2012‐2013, 5 elementary schools from a low‐socioeconomic status ( SES ) school district in southern Colorado participated in evaluation of the afterschool program entitled Keep It Moving! ( KIM ).METHODS In this cross‐sectional analysis we sought to evaluate the relationships among participant PA , teacher interaction, and lesson context during an unstructured afterschool PA program. Participants were third‐fifth grade students enrolled in the KIM program at the 5 participating elementary schools and were assessed utilizing accelerometers and direct observation with the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time ( SOFIT ).RESULTS Program participants wore the accelerometer 37.1 ± 5.4 min session −1 . Approximately half of the time was spent in light PA ( LPA ) and 15.7 ± 5.3 min session −1 in moderate to vigorous PA ( MVPA ). Game play was positively associated with LPA and negatively associated with MVPA . When teachers did not promote PA with students there was a positive association with sedentary activity ( SA ) and a negative association with MVPA .CONCLUSIONS Lesson context and teacher interactions may be important factors associated with PA intensity of afterschool PA programming. Future research should address whether structured PA curricula may improve quality of afterschool PA programming.