Temporal Trends in Children's School Day Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Evidence from a limited sample of countries indicates that time for physical education and recess during school have declined. Schools are called to provide children with 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This systematic review and meta-analysis estimated temporal trends in children's school day MVPA. METHODS: Three online databases were searched to identify studies with objectively measured MVPA, during school hours, in school aged children (5-18 y). Multilevel random-effects meta-analyses estimated MVPA by year, and meta-regression analyses estimated temporal trends in school day MVPA. RESULTS: Studies (N = 65) providing 171 MVPA estimates, representing 60,779 unique children, from 32 countries, and spanning 2003-2019 were identified. Most studies were conducted in North America (n = 33) or Europe (n = 21). School day MVPA ranged from 18.1 (95% confidence interval, 15.1-21.1) to 47.1 (95% confidence interval, 39.4-54.8) minutes per day in any given year. Meta-regression analyses indicated that MVPA declined from 2003 to 2010 (approximately 15 min decline), plateaued from 2010 to 2015 (approximately 1 min decrease), and increased from 2015 to 2019 (approximately 5 min increase). CONCLUSIONS: School day MVPA decreased from 2003 to 2010 and has recently begun to increase. However, the majority of the evidence is from North America and Europe with some evidence from Oceania and very little evidence from Asia to South America.

Children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity on weekdays versus weekend days: a multi-country analysis.

PURPOSE: The Structured Days Hypothesis (SDH) posits that children's behaviors associated with obesity - such as physical activity - are more favorable on days that contain more 'structure' (i.e., a pre-planned, segmented, and adult-supervised environment) such as school weekdays, compared to days with less structure, such as weekend days. The purpose of this study was to compare children's moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels on weekdays versus weekend days using a large, multi-country, accelerometer-measured physical activity dataset. METHODS: Data were received from the International Children's Accelerometer Database (ICAD) July 2019. The ICAD inclusion criteria for a valid day of wear, only non-intervention data (e.g., baseline intervention data), children with at least 1 weekday and 1 weekend day, and ICAD studies with data collected exclusively during school months, were included for analyses. Mixed effects models accounting for the nested nature of the data (i.e., days within children) assessed MVPA minutes per day (min/day MVPA) differences between weekdays and weekend days by region/country, adjusted for age, sex, and total wear time. Separate meta-analytical models explored differences by age and country/region for sex and child weight-status. RESULTS/FINDINGS: Valid data from 15 studies representing 5794 children (61% female, 10.7 ± 2.1 yrs., 24% with overweight/obesity) and 35,263 days of valid accelerometer data from 5 distinct countries/regions were used. Boys and girls accumulated 12.6 min/day (95% CI: 9.0, 16.2) and 9.4 min/day (95% CI: 7.2, 11.6) more MVPA on weekdays versus weekend days, respectively. Children from mainland Europe had the largest differences (17.1 min/day more MVPA on weekdays versus weekend days, 95% CI: 15.3, 19.0) compared to the other countries/regions. Children who were classified as overweight/obese or normal weight/underweight accumulated 9.5 min/day (95% CI: 6.9, 12.2) and 10.9 min/day (95% CI: 8.3, 13.5) of additional MVPA on weekdays versus weekend days, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Children from multiple countries/regions accumulated significantly more MVPA on weekdays versus weekend days during school months. This finding aligns with the SDH and warrants future intervention studies to prioritize less-structured days, such as weekend days, and to consider providing opportunities for all children to access additional opportunities to be active.

Physical activity and sedentary time of youth in structured settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Structured settings, such as school, childcare, afterschool programs, summer camps, and physical activity/sport programs are crucial to promoting physical activity (PA) opportunities and reducing sedentary (ST) for children and adolescents. However, little is known about how much PA and ST children and adolescents accumulate in structured settings. The aim of this study is to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the absolute amount of time youth spend physically active and sedentary in different structured settings (Prospero number: 42018111804). METHODS: Observational and experimental/quasi-experimental studies (baseline data only) with full-text available, written in English and published in a peer-reviewed journal, reporting the total amount of objectively measured PA (light, moderate, vigorous, and/or total physical activity) and/or time spent ST during structured settings among youth (3 to 18 years) were eligible. Adjusted meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the pooled mean of time spent in PA and ST, by settings and sex. RESULTS: A total of 187 studies (childcare n=60; school n=91; afterschool programs n=14; summer camp n=4; and Physical activity/ sport programs n=18) from 30 countries (47.9% United States), representing 74,870 youth (mean age 8.6 years old) were included. Overall, there was a high variation between studies in outcomes and settings. The meta-analyses revealed, on average, youth spend 221.8 minutes (36.7 min/hour) in ST and 32.1 minutes (5.1 min/hour) in MVPA during childcare hours, and 223.9 minutes (36.7min/hour) in ST and 27.8 min (4.4 min/hour) in MVPA at school. Relatively, youth are engaged in more MVPA in afterschool programs (11.7 min/hour), PA/ sport programs (20.9 min/hour), and summer camps (6.4 min/hour), when compared to childcare and school. CONCLUSION: Total PA accumulated during childcare and MVPA accumulated during schools hours were close to recommendations, despite high proportion of ST. Afterschool programs, summer camp and PA/ sport programs are important settings that can contribute to daily PA and reduced ST. Ensuring all youth have access to these structured settings may be an important step forward for public health.

Clusters of non-dietary obesogenic behaviors among adolescents in Brazil: a latent profile analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To identify patterns of non-dietary obesogenic behaviors, and social and environmental factors associated with overweight and obesity (OWOB). METHODS: A representative sample (n = 5520) of high school students (55.4% girls, 16.3 ± 1.0 years) from Pernambuco State, Brazil. Latent profile analyses were performed using self-reported daily sleep duration, television use, computer use, videogame use, seated time during the week and weekend days, physical activity, and active commuting to school during the week. Social and environmental factors and body mass index were included to identify classes. Multinomial analysis explored differences in social, environmental factors, and BMI by classes. RESULTS: Five patterns were identified [Computer users (C1), Short sleepers (C2), Typical behaviors (C3), Techno-active-gamers (C4), and Lower screen engagement (C5)]. Three groups (C1, C3 and C4) included students from better social conditions and a more urbanized environments. The prevalence of OWOB was higher in C1 (34.5%; 95% CI 31.1-38.0) and in C2 (29.7%; 95% CI 26.1-33.5) compared to C5 (23.3% 95% CI 21.3-25.3). CONCLUSIONS: In one of the poorest regions of Brazil, different groups of social/environmental factors and behavior patterns emerged associated with OWOB.

Validação do Perceived Locus Of Causality Questionnaire para avaliação da motivação nas aulas de Educação Física / Validation of Perceived Locus Of Causality Questionnaire for motivation assessment on Physical Education classes

A Educação Física possui um papel central durante os anos escolares, pois a participação de forma regular pode proporcionar, dentre outros, benefícios biológicos, psicológicos e acadêmicos. Conhecer a motivação dos estudantes pode contribuir no planejamento de estratégias para melhorar a participação nas aulas. Para o conhecimento da motivação faz-se necessário à utilização de instrumentos, que muitas vezes não são validados para a população a qual se quer investigar, dificultando assim a comparação dos resultados obtidos. O presente estudo teve como objetivo realizar a adaptação transcultural e avaliar as propriedades psicométricas do Perceived Locus of Causality Questionnaire (PLOCQ) que visa medir as dimensões motivacionais definidas em um continuum da Teoria da Autodeterminação para articipação nas aulas de Educação Física Escolar. As etapas de validação foram: tradução do instrumento, retro-tradução, revisão técnica e avaliação da equivalência semântica, validação do conteúdo, avaliação do instrumento pelos especialistas e população-alvo e avaliação das propriedades psicométricas. O instrumento foi aplicado a 464 estudantes (58,4% de moças) do ensino médio com idade entre 13 e 17 anos. Foram realizadas a adaptação transcultural e avaliação das propriedades psicométricas por meio da reprodutibilidade, análise de consistência interna, análise fatorial exploratória (AFE) e confirmatória (AFC). Os itens da escala apresentaram boa consistência interna com variação do coeficiente α de Cronbach de 0,71 a 0,79 e boa reprodutibilidade teste-reteste (Kappa entre 0,61 a 0,88). A análise fatorial exploratória identificou cinco componentes e vinte itens que explicaram 57,9% da variância do questionário. O modelo final da análise fatorial confirmatória foi significativo (RMSEA de 0,071; GFI de 0,91, RMSR de 0,04 e CFI de 0,95). O instrumento poderá ser utilizado, com um elevado grau de confiança, em futuras investigações que pretendam avaliar a motivação dos estudantes no contexto das aulas de Educação Física no Brasil...(AU)

The physical education class has a central role during scholar years because a regular participation could provide among others biological, psychological and academic benefits. Knowing student motivation can contribute to planning strategies to improve participation in class. To know the motivation, it is necessary to use instruments, which are often not validated for the target population, making it difficult to compare the results obtained. The objective of this study was to translate and perform a cross-cultural adaptation and analyze psychometric properties of the Perceived Locus of Causality Questionnaire (PLOCQ) that aims to measure the motivational dimensions forms defined on a continuum of Self-determination Theory for participation in physical education classes. The validation stages were translation of the instrument, back translation, technical review and evaluation of semantic equivalence, validation of content, evaluation of the instrument by specialists and target population and evaluation of psychometric properties. This instrument was administered to 464 high school students (58.4% female) aged 13 to 17 years. The stages of cultural adaptation were conducted as well as evaluation of the psychometric properties through reproducibility, internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis. The items of the scale showed good internal consistency with coefficient α Cronbach ranging from 0.71 to 0.79 and good test-retest reproducibility (Kappa coefficient ranged from 0.61 to 0.88). Exploratory factor analysis identified five components that explained 57.9% of the variance of the questionnaire items. The final model of confirmatory factor analysis was significant (RMSEA of 0.071, GFI of 0.91, RMSR of 0.04 and IFC of 0.95). We conclude that this tool can be used with a high degree of confidence in future investigations aiming to assess the student motivation in the context of physical education classes in Brazil...(AU)

Avaliação quali-quantitativa do Programa Academia da Cidade, Recife (PE): concepções dos professores / Quali-quantitative evaluation of the 'Academia da Cidade' program from Recife, Brazil: perceptions of the professionals working in the program

O objetivo do presente estudo foi identificar e analisar a visão que os professores que atuam no Programa Academia da Cidade (PAC) em Recife, PE constroem a respeito do impacto/relevância, das dificuldades e do envolvimento da comunidade em relação à proposta. O PAC é um programa público vinculado à Secretaria de Saúde do município. Foram elaborados e aplicados questionários e entrevistas com os profissionais que trabalhavam em quatro pólos do PAC. A amostra foi composta da seguinte forma: foram aplicados questionários com 12 profissionais (abordagem quantitativa) e desses, sete responderam às entrevistas aprofundadas (abordagem qualitativa). Os dados quantitativos confirmam que o programa estimula os usuários à prática da atividade física e atua sobre a saúde da população, mas tem dificuldades com estrutura física, recursos humanos e divulgação. Os dados qualitativos mostram dificuldades com a segurança dos locais onde estão localizados os pólos e a necessidade de aquisição e manutenção dos equipamentos para o desenvolvimento das atividades e de formação/atualização dos profissionais. No que se refere ao envolvimento comunitário, os professores relatam significativa participação da comunidade nas festividades/passeios e envolvimento com sugestões para as atividades físicas, mas relatam baixo envolvimento das pessoas com atividades ?extra pólo?. Em resumo, a satisfação dos professores do PAC com sua atividade profissional é elevada e os mesmos consideram que o PAC tem impactos positivos sobre a saúde da população.

The aim of this study was to identify and analyze the perceptions of the professionals working in the Academia da Cidade (PAC) program, in Recife (PE) about the program, regarding its impact/relevance, strengths and difficulties and community participation. PAC is a public funded intervention, coordinated by the Municipal Secretariat of Health in Recife, Brazil. Questionnaires were administered and interviews were performed with professionals working in four units of PAC. The sample included 12 professionals who answered questionnaires (quantitative approach), of whom seven also answered to the in-depth interviews (qualitative approach). The quantitative findings confirm that the program stimulates users to practice physical activity, and to improve health, but has problems related to infra-structure, staff and divulgation. The qualitative data show difficulties related to safety in the areas covered by PAC, the need of buying new equipment and maintaining existing ones, and the need of capacity building. In terms of community involvement, we observed high participation in events, and high volume of suggestions of physical activities, but the importance of involvement in activities performed outside the units is not emphasized. In summary, professionals working in PAC are satisfied with their job, and think that PAC has a positive impact on population health.