Elementary School Staff Perspectives On the Implementation of Physical activity approaches in Practice: an Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study

INTRODUCTION: A whole-of-school approach is best to promote physical activity before, during, and after school. However, multicomponent programming is often complex and difficult to deliver in school settings. There is a need to better understand how components of a whole-of-school approach are implemented in practice. The objectives of this mixed methods study were to: (1) qualitatively explore physical activity approaches and their implementation in elementary schools, (2) quantitatively assess implementation levels, and (3) examine associations between school-level physical activity promotion and academic ratings. METHODS: We used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design. We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with elementary school staff from a Texas school district and used a directed content analysis to explore physical activity approaches and their implementation. Using qualitative findings, we designed a survey to quantitatively examine the implementation of physical activity approaches, which we distributed to elementary staff district wide. We used Pearson correlation coefficients to examine the association between the amount of physical activity opportunities present in individual schools and school-level academic ratings. RESULTS: We completed 15 interviews (7 principals/assistant principals, 4 physical educators, and 4 classroom teachers). Elementary school teachers and staff indicated PE and recess implementation was driven from the top-down by state and district policies, while implementation of classroom-based approaches, before and after school programming, and active transport were largely driven from the bottom-up by teachers and school leaders. Teachers and staff also discussed implementation challenges across approaches. Survey respondents ( CONCLUSION: Schools provided physical activity opportunities consistent with a whole-of-school approach, although there was variability between schools and implementation challenges were present. Leveraging existing school assets while providing school-specific implementation strategies may be most beneficial for supporting successful physical activity promotion in elementary schools

Observed and Perceived Benefits of Providing Physical Activity Opportunities in Elementary Schools: A Qualitative Study

INTRODUCTION: Schools play an important role in promoting physical activity for youth. However, school-based physical activity opportunities often compete with other academic priorities, limiting their implementation. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore elementary school teacher and staff perspectives on providing physical activity opportunities and how they impact students and learning. METHODS: We partnered with a school district in Texas to conduct semi-structured individual interviews. We used a purposeful sampling approach to recruit elementary teachers and staff knowledgeable about the physical activity opportunities provided at their school. Interviews included questions about participant opinions of providing physical activity opportunities and the types of opportunities provided. We analyzed data using a directed content analysis and iterative categorization approach. RESULTS: Fifteen participants (4 teachers, 4 physical education teachers, 3 assistant principals, and 4 principals) completed interviews from 10 elementary schools. Participants discussed observed and perceived benefits when providing physical activity opportunities, which emerged into four themes and subthemes: (1) academic benefits (learning readiness, learning engagement, and academic performance); (2) social-emotional benefits (behavior, interpersonal and social skills, and classroom culture); (3) physical benefits (brain health, skill development, physical health); and (4) instructional benefits (quality teaching time, helpful teaching tools, and teacher-student relationships). CONCLUSIONS: Teachers and staff observed numerous benefits when students had opportunities to be physically active, including the positive impact on academic and social-emotional outcomes. Our findings highlight the alignment of physical activity with other school priorities. Physical activity programming can be used in ways to support academics, learning, behavior, and other important outcomes

Estimating Physical Activity and Sleep using the Combination of Movement and Heart Rate: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(7): 1514-1539, 2023. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to quantify the difference in physical activity and sleep estimates assessed via 1) movement, 2) heart rate (HR), or 3) the combination of movement and HR (MOVE+HR) compared to criterion indicators of the outcomes. Searches in four electronic databases were executed September 21-24 of 2021. Weighted mean was calculated from standardized group-level estimates of mean percent error (MPE) and mean absolute percent error (MAPE) of the proxy signal compared to the criterion measurement method for physical activity, HR, or sleep. Standardized mean difference (SMD) effect sizes between the proxy and criterion estimates were calculated for each study across all outcomes, and meta-regression analyses were conducted. Two-One-Sided-Tests method were conducted to meta-analytically evaluate the equivalence of the proxy and criterion. Thirty-nine studies (physical activity k = 29 and sleep k = 10) were identified for data extraction. Sample size weighted means for MPE were -38.0%, 7.8%, -1.4%, and -0.6% for physical activity movement only, HR only, MOVE+HR, and sleep MOVE+HR, respectively. Sample size weighted means for MAPE were 41.4%, 32.6%, 13.3%, and 10.8% for physical activity movement only, HR only, MOVE+HR, and sleep MOVE+HR, respectively. Few estimates were statistically equivalent at a SMD of 0.8. Estimates of physical activity from MOVE+HR were not statistically significantly different from estimates based on movement or HR only. For sleep, included studies based their estimates solely on the combination of MOVE+HR, so it was impossible to determine if the combination produced significantly different estimates than either method alone

Consolidated Recommendations for Early-stage STudies (CREST)

There are over 100 published guidelines, checklists, frameworks, and recommendations for pilot and feasibility studies. No consolidated resource exists to make it easier for researchers to justify the design of their preliminary study. This project aims to synthesize and consolidate the available literature on preliminary studies in an easy-to-use resource for researchers who are designing and implementing pilot and feasibility studies

The neighbourhood social environment correlates with meeting 24-hour movement behaviour recommendations in females: a cross-sectional study using the 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the neighbourhood social environment and meeting recommendations for 24-hour movement behaviours in youth. Participants were a sample of children and adolescents from the 2019 National Survey of Children’s Health (N=21,259; 48.2% female). Knowing where to go for help (OR=2.66, p=0.006) and a safe school environment (OR=1.99, p=0.020) correlated with high probability of meeting 24-hour movement behaviour recommendations in females. Novelty Bullet: • The neighbourhood social environment associates with meeting 24-hour movement recommendations in females.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

Association between Access to Electronic Devices in the Home Environment and Cardiorespiratory Fitness in Children

This study examined the association between access to electronic devices in the home and cardiorespiratory fitness in children. Participants were children aged 8–12 years from a local elementary school (n = 106, mean age = 9.7 + 1.1 years, male = 50). Child access to electronic devices was measured with a 37-item parent-reported questionnaire. Estimated maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 Peak) was calculated from The Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) using a validated algorithm. The association between access to electronic devices in the home and cardiorespiratory fitness was explored by employing hierarchical ridge regression, using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model, controlling for the covariates of sex, age, and Body Mass Index (BMI). Controlling for sex, age, and BMI, the number of electronic items in a child’s bedroom was significantly inversely related to the estimated VO2 Peak (b = −1.30 mL/kg/min, 95% C.I.: −2.46 mL/kg/min, −0.15 mL/kg/min, p = 0.028) and PACER laps (b = −3.70 laps, 95% C.I.: −6.97 laps, −0.41 laps, p = 0.028) However, the total number of electronic items in the home and total number of electronic items owned did not significantly relate to the estimated VO2 Peak (p = 0.847, 0.964) or the number of PACER laps (p = 0.847, 0.964). Child health behavior interventions focused on the home environment should devote specific attention to the bedroom as a primary locus of easily modifiable intervention

The Effects of Playground Interventions on Accelerometer-Assessed Physical Activity in Pediatric Populations: A Meta-Analysis

Playgrounds are designed to be a safe, enjoyable, and effective means to promote physical activity in children and adolescents. The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis to determine the effectiveness of playground interventions for improving accelerometer-assessed ambulatory moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and to identify common aspects of playground interventions that may be beneficial to promote behavior change. An internet database search was performed. The final analyzed sample of studies was obtained from several criteria, including being a playground-based intervention targeting children or adolescents, having a control or comparison group, having an accelerometer-assessed MVPA outcome target variable, and reporting of the mean difference scores’ variability. A random-effects model meta-analysis was employed to obtain pooled effect sizes. Ten studies (n = 10) were analyzed from the internet search. The weighted pooled effect (Hedges’ g) across all studies was Hedges’ g = 0.13, 95% CI: 0.02–0.24, p = 0.023. There was moderate study heterogeneity (I2 = 55.3%) but no evidence for publication bias (p = 0.230). These results suggest that school-based playground interventions have a small effect on increasing accelerometer-assessed MVPA within the pediatric population. The playground should still be an environmental target during school or community-based interventions aimed at providing opportunities to promote MVPA

Associations Between Device-Measured Physical Activity and Indicators of Adiposity among US Children and Youth

This project involves a secondary analysis of three cycles of NHANES data to examine dose-response associations between device-measured physical activity behavior using accelerometry and indicators of adiposity. Independent and joint effects of physical activity volume and intensity will be examined as predictors of overweight/obesity status, abdominal obesity status, BMI z-scores, and body fat percentage

Parent Engagement and Support, Physical Activity, and Academic Performance (PESPAAP): A Proposed Theoretical Model

An emerging area of research within public health is the interaction between parents and their children for the promotion of physical activity. Higher levels of daily physical activity may not only improve physical health but also yield better academic performance by improving cognitive skills, classroom behavior, and academic achievement within the pediatric population. However, no theoretical model has yet been proposed to interrelate constructs of parental engagement and support, physical activity, and academic performance within the pediatric population. Here, we: 1) summarize salient research related to pediatric physical activity and academic performance, parents’ physical activity engagement with their children, and the role of parental support in child academic performance; 2) propose a theoretical model interrelating parent physical activity engagement and support, physical activity, and academic performance (PESPAAP); 3) identify features of the proposed model that support its potential merit; and 4) provide potential future research directions and potential analyses that can be undertaken to support, modify, or disprove the proposed theoretical model. The proposed PESPAAP model provides a logically sound model that can be modified or expanded upon to improve applicability and generalizability and can be used as a framework to help align testable hypotheses for studies examining these interrelationships