The Contribution Of Physical Education And Structured Recess To 6th Grade Students\u27 Overall Daily Phyiscal Activity

The purpose of this study was two-fold. First, this study examined the percentage of the daily threshold (12,000 steps) PE class and recess contribute to 6th grade students overall daily PA. This study also examined the relationships between gender, physical activity outside of school (PAQ-C), BMI and steps during both recess and PE. A total of 138 students aged 11-13 years old, enrolled in the 6th grade from one elementary school in the Midwest participated. Students completed the PA Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) which assesses PA from the last 7 days, and wore a pedometer to measure steps taken for 6 consecutive PE classes and recess sessions. Additionally students\u27 body mass index (BMI) percentiles were calculated. Boys took more steps during PE and recess than girls (approximately 30% more), and reported marginally higher PAQ-C scores. The overall contribution of recess and PE to the daily step goal ranged from 7.1% to 9.6% of the target step count of 12,000. All three PA variables were positively correlated with one another (all p \u3c 0.05) and children that took more steps during recess and PE tended to have lower BMI percentiles (both p \u3c 0.05). However, when all three variables were entered into the multiple linear regression model simultaneously, only steps taken during PE was predictive of BMI percentile (total model r2 = 0.145, p = 0.001). Results suggest that PE and recess at this school contributed a low percentage of steps to students overall target step count goal. Additionally, students who are more active in PE and recess have lower BMI. However, only steps in PE had predictive value of BMI percentiles. These results suggest that further research is needed to explore PA in schools along with potential interventions to increase PA