Effects of ready for recess, an environmental intervention, on physical activity in third-through sixth-grade children

Jennifer L. Huberty, Michael W. Beets, Aaron Beighle, Pedro F. Saint-Maurice, Greg Welk

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of Ready for Recess, an elementary school recess intervention targeting staff training (ST) or providing recreational equipment (EQ) separately, and the combination (EQ+ST) on physical activity (PA). Methods: Participants were children attending 1 of 12 elementary schools (grades 3rd-6th) included in the study. Separate analytical models were used to evaluate the effects of the intervention conditions on children's accelerometry and direct observation derived PA measures. Results: Boys and girls were measured using accelerometry (n = 667). Boys in EQ+ST increased their MVPA by 14.1% while ST decreased their MVPA by -13.5%. Girls in ST decreased their MVPA by -11.4%. Neither boys nor girls in EQ increased their time spent in MVPA. A total of 523 (boys) and 559 (girls) observations were collected. For boys' and girls' sedentary and vigorous activity there were no significant main effects for treatment condition, time, or treatment condition-by-time effects. Conclusions: Environmental modifications are only as strong as the staff that implements them. Supervision, if not interactive, may be detrimental to PA participation, especially in girls. Research related to staff training for encouragement and promotion of PA coupled with appropriate use of equipment during recess is warranted.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)384-395
Number of pages12
JournalJournal of Physical Activity and Health
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2014

Keywords

  • Community-based research
  • Equipment
  • Staff
  • Youth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Orthopedics and Sports Medicine

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Effects of ready for recess, an environmental intervention, on physical activity in third-through sixth-grade children'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this