Recess physical activity and school-related social factors in Finnish primary and lower secondary schools : cross-sectional associations

Abstract Background Participation in physical activities provides students with opportunities for social interaction and social skills development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of students&#8217; recess physical activity with school-related social factors. Methods Data were collected in 19 schools countrywide in autumn 2010, and 1463 students from grades 4 and 5 (primary school) and from grades 7 and 8 (lower secondary school) completed an anonymous questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate whether self-reported physical activity at recess was associated with peer relationships at school, relatedness to school and school climate. Analyses were adjusted for self-reported overall physical activity and conducted for primary and lower secondary schools. Multi-group analysis was used to test sex differences among the associations. Results In primary school, physical activity at recess was positively associated with peer relationships at school (boys: b = 0.17, p = 0.007 and girls: b = 0.21, p &lt;0.001), relatedness to school (boys: b = 0.18, p = 0.002 and girls: b = 0.24, p &lt;0.001) and school climate (girls: b = 0.17, p = 0.001), after adjusting for overall physical activity. In lower secondary school, physical activity at recess was positively associated with peer relationships at school (boys: b = 0.09, p = 0.006 and girls: b = 0.12, p = 0.010) but not with other school-related social factors. No sex differences were observed in these associations. Conclusions Our results suggest that students&#8217; participation in physical activities during school recess is positively associated with students&#8217; school-related social factors. In the future, it would be worthwhile to study how physical activity at recess should be organised in order to support the development of school-related social factors.Background: Participation in physical activities provides students with opportunities for social interaction and social skills development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of students’ recess physical activity with school-related social factors. Methods: Data were collected in 19 schools countrywide in autumn 2010, and 1463 students from grades 4 and 5 (primary school) and from grades 7 and 8 (lower secondary school) completed an anonymous questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate whether self-reported physical activity at recess was associated with peer relationships at school, relatedness to school and school climate. Analyses were adjusted for self-reported overall physical activity and conducted for primary and lower secondary schools. Multi-group analysis was used to test sex differences among the associations. Results: In primary school, physical activity at recess was positively associated with peer relationships at school (boys: b = 0.17, p = 0.007 and girls: b = 0.21, p <0.001), relatedness to school (boys: b = 0.18, p = 0.002 and girls: b = 0.24, p <0.001) and school climate (girls: b = 0.17, p = 0.001), after adjusting for overall physical activity. In lower secondary school, physical activity at recess was positively associated with peer relationships at school (boys: b = 0.09, p = 0.006 and girls: b = 0.12, p = 0.010) but not with other school-related social factors. No sex differences were observed in these associations. Conclusions: Our results suggest that students’ participation in physical activities during school recess is positively associated with students’ school-related social factors. In the future, it would be worthwhile to study how physical activity at recess should be organised in order to support the development of school-related social factors.peerReviewe

Mobiilisovelluksen opetuskäytön yhteys kahdeksasluokkalaisten fyysiseen aktiivisuuteen koulupäivän aikana

Vain pieni osa maamme kahdeksasluokkalaisista saavuttaa tunnin päivittäisen liikuntasuosituksen. Arkipäivinä suurin osa paikallaanolosta kertyy koulussa vietettynä aikana. Tässä tutkimuksessa selvitettiin ActionTrack mobiilisovelluksella ulkona annetun opetuksen yhteydet oppilaiden fyysiseen aktiivisuuteen koulupäivän aikana. Tutkimukseen osallistui kaksi kahdeksatta luokkaa, jotka käyttivät mobiilisovellusta ulkona seitsemän kuukauden ajan kahdesta kolmeen kertaan viikossa teoreettisten oppiaineiden tunnilla. Fyysinen aktiivisuus mitattiin ActiGraph kiihtyvyysmittarein. Liikemittauksiin osallistui 28 oppilasta ja heidän koulupäivän aikaista fyysistä aktiivisuutta kuvattiin paikallaanolon, vähintään reippaan liikunnan ja askelten määrinä. Koulupäivien fyysistä aktiivisuutta verrattiin mobiilisovelluksella opetusta sisältäneinä koulupäivinä (mobiilituntipäivä) ja muina koulupäivinä. Muut koulupäivät luokiteltiin 1) tavanomaiseksi päiväksi, jolloin ei ollut mobiili- eikä liikuntatuntia, 2) liikuntatuntipäiväksi, jolloin ei ollut mobiilituntia, mutta oli liikuntatunti ja 3) mobiili- & liikuntatuntipäiväksi, jolloin oli mobiili- ja liikuntatunti. Fyysisen aktiivisuuden erot mobiilituntipäivien ja muiden koulupäivien välillä analysoitiin toistettujen mittausten t-testillä. Mobiilitunnin sisältäneiden koulupäivien aikana oppilaat liikkuivat enemmän ja olivat vähemmän paikallaan kuin tavanomaisina päivinä. Reipasta liikuntaa oli keskimäärin noin yhdeksän minuuttia enemmän ja paikallaan oltiin keskimäärin noin 22 minuuttia vähemmän seitsemän tunnin koulupäivän aikana. Lisääntynyt koulupäivän aikainen reippaan liikunnan määrä vastasi noin 20 prosenttia oppilaiden koko päivän aikaisesta reippaan liikunnan määrästä ennen mobiilisovelluksen käyttöä. Mobiili- & liikuntatuntipäivinä oppilaat liikkuivat enemmän kuin mobiilituntipäivinä. Johtopäätös on, että ulkona ActionTrackin kaltaisilla mobiilisovelluksilla opettaen voidaan lisätä oppilaiden liikuntaa tavanomaisiin koulupäiviin. Only a fraction of Finnish adolescents fulfill one-hour daily recommendations  for physical activity (PA). On weekdays, most  of the sedentary time accumulates during school-hours. In this  study, we investigated how the use of ActionTrack mobile application  for outdoor teaching is associated with the school day PA  in eighth grade pupils. The intervention participants were pupils off two 8th grade  classes. They used a mobile application in academic classes two  to three times a week for seven months. The pupils’ PA was  measured with ActiGraph accelerometers. In total, 28 students  participated in the accelerometer measurements. Their school  day PA was expressed as sedentary-time (ST), moderate-tovigorous  PA (MVPA) and steps. The PA of school days including  a mobile application class was compared with other school  days. Other school days were classified as 1) regular days, without  a mobile application class or a physical education (PE) class,  2) PE -day, that included PE, without a mobile application class,  and 3) mobile & PE -day, including both a mobile application  class and a PE class. The differences in PA between days including  a mobile application class and other days were analysed with  repeated measures t-test. Compared with regular days, the pupils had more PA and less  ST on days that included a mobile application class. During a  seven hours school day there was an average nine minutes increase  in MVPA and an average 22 minutes decrease in ST. The  increase in MVPA during a school day was comparable to around  20 percent of the pupils’ total daily amount of MVPA before the  use of the mobile application. During mobile & PE -days the  students had more PA than during days including a mobile application  class. In conclusion, the use of the ActionTrack application and similar applications in outdoor teaching can increase the pupils PA compared with regular school days.</p

Pienten lasten liikunnan ilo, fyysinen aktiivisuus ja motoriset taidot Suomessa : Piilo-tutkimuksen tuloksia 2023

Piilo-tutkimus selvitti 4–6-vuotiaiden lasten liikkumisen määrää ja laatua sekä niihin vaikuttavia tekijöitä Suomessa vuonna 2023. Tutkimukseen kutsuttiin mukaan lapsia ja heidän perheitään varhaiskasvatuksen kautta eri puolilta Suomea. Lasten liikkumista mitattiin liikemittarilla ja liikkumiseen liittyviä huoltajien käsityksiä kyselyn avulla. Koko päivän aikana 4–6-vuotiaat lapset liikkuivat keskimäärin 3,0 tuntia päivässä kevyesti sekä 74 minuuttia päivässä reippaasti tai rasittavasti. Paikallaanoloaikaa kertyi 9,4 tuntia vuorokaudessa. Varhaisvuosien fyysisen aktiivisuuden suosituksen mukaan koko päivän aikana tulisi liikkua kevyesti, reippaasti tai rasittavasti vähintään kolme tuntia päivässä ja siitä vähintään tunti reippaasti ja rasittavasti. Lapsista 76 prosenttia liikkui tämän suosituksen mukaisesti. Suositus toteutui pojilla yleisemmin kuin tytöillä (83 % vs. 68 %), vanhemmilla lapsilla yleisemmin kuin nuoremmilla ja kaupunkiympäristössä useammin kuin maaseudulla tai taajamassa. Liikkuvan varhaiskasvatuksen tavoite on, että varhaiskasvatuksen aikana kertyisi kaksi kolmasosaa koko päivän suosituksesta, eli kaksi tuntia liikkumista, josta 40 minuuttia olisi reipasta tai rasittavaa. Lapsista 61 prosenttia liikkui varhaiskasvatuksessa tämän tavoitteen mukaisesti, pojat yleisemmin kuin tytöt (72 % vs. 50 %). Tutkimus toteutettiin opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön rahoituksella

Predicting accelerometer-based physical activity in physical education and total physical activity: The Self-determination Theory approach

The present study tested the motivational model of physical education (PE) including needs for competence, autonomy, social relatedness, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, in-class moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and total MVPA. Participants were 490 (264 girls, 226 boys) Finnish elementary school students. The data were collected using accelerometers and questionnaires for a seven-day period during the fall semester 2017. The key findings were that 1) social relatedness associated with total MVPA via in-class MVPA in girls, whereas competence was linked to in-class MVPA through extrinsic motivation in boys, 2) competence was positively linked to extrinsic motivation in a similar way in both girls and boys, 3) social relatedness and in-class MVPA were positively associated with total MVPA in both girls and boys, 4) competence, autonomy, and relatedness were positively linked to intrinsic motivation in girls when only competence and autonomy were related to intrinsic motivation in boys, and 5) in-class MVPA contributed 36% of total weekly MVPA minutes in the present sample. Although the indirect relationships between study variables did not fully support the existing PE motivational model, the direct associations showed that needs of competence, autonomy, relatedness could be promoted in PE classes to support intrinsic motivation, and total MVPA.This project was financially supported by The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture and The Otto A. Malm Foundation, Finland

Associations of parental physical activity trajectories with offspring's physical activity patterns from childhood to middle adulthood : The Young Finns Study

Peer reviewe

Accelerometer-Measured Physical Activity and Sedentary Time Differ According to Education Level in Young Adults

This study examined the association of education level with objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time in young adults. Data from the Finnish ESTER study (20092011) (n = 538) was used to examine the association between educational attainment and different subcomponents of physical activity and sedentary time measured using hip-worn accelerometers (ActiGraph GT1M) for seven consecutive days. Overall physical activity, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), light-intensity physical activity and sedentary time were calculated separately for weekdays and weekend days. A latent profile analysis was conducted to identify the different profiles of sedentary time and the subcomponents of physical activity. The educational differences in accelerometer-measured physical activity and sedentary time varied according to the subcomponents of physical activity, and between weekdays and weekend days. A high education level was associated with high MVPA during weekdays and weekend days in both sexes, high sedentary time during weekdays in both sexes, and a low amount of light-intensity physical activity during weekdays in males and during weekdays and weekend days in females. The results indicate different challenges related to unhealthy behaviours in young adults with low and high education: low education is associated with a lack of MVPA, whereas high education is associated with a lack of light-intensity physical activity and high sedentary time especially during weekdays.Peer reviewe

Associations of parental physical activity trajectories with offspring's physical activity patterns from childhood to middle adulthood: The Young Finns Study

We investigated the association of parental physical activity (PA) trajectories with offspring's youth and adult PA. Self-reported PA data were extracted from the Young Finns Study with three follow-ups for parents between 1980 and 1986 and nine follow-ups for their offspring in youth between 1980 and 2011 (aged 9-39 years, n = 2402) and in adulthood in 2018. Accelerometer-derived PA was quantified in 2018-2020 (aged 43-58 years, n = 1134). Data were analyzed using mixture models and conducted in 2022. We identified three trajectories for fathers and mothers (high-stable activity, 20.2%/16.6%; moderate-stable activity, 50.5%/49.6%; and low-stable activity, 29.4%/33.7%) and four for youth male and female offspring (persistently active, 13.4%/5.1%; increasingly active, 32.1%/43.1%; decreasingly active, 14.4%/12.6%; and persistently low-active, 40.1%/39.1%). Compared to low-stable active parents, high-stable active fathers had a higher probability of having their sons and daughters classified as persistently active, increasingly active, and decreasingly active in youth (Brange = 0.50-1.79, all p range = 0.63-1.16, all p < 0.009). Fathers' and mothers' high-stable activity was associated with higher self-reported PA of adult offspring than parental low-stable activity. Persistently active and increasingly active offspring in youth accumulated more adult total PA, moderate-to-vigorous PA, step counts, and self-reported PA than persistently low-active ones (all p < 0.036). Parental persistent PA, particularly paternal persistent PA, predicts offspring's PA concurrently and prospectively. Increasing and maintaining PA in youth predicts higher PA levels in midlife