Keeping children healthy during and after COVID-19 pandemic: meeting youth physical activity needs.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to: 1) examine the maintenance of Physical Education and physical activity during the distance learning time, 2) determine the resources educators are utilizing to deliver PE curricula, and 3) understand the challenges experienced by educators during distance learning. METHODS: A survey was sent to a cohort of school-based fitness assessment software users. Respondents were largely school-based individuals including PE teachers (n = 1789), school (n = 62) and district administrators (n = 64), nurses (n = 3), and "other" (n = 522). RESULTS: Of 2440 respondents, most were from a city or suburb (69.7%), elementary or middle school (72.3%), and had Title 1 status (60.4%), an indicator of low socioeconomic status. Most campuses were closed during the COVID-19 pandemic (97.8%). Of the schools closed during the pandemic, only 2.8% had no prior PE requirements and that increased to 21% during the pandemic. In schools that remained open during the pandemic, 7.7% had no prior PE requirements and this increased to 60.5%. Importantly, 79% of respondents reported that students were either "significantly less" or "somewhat less" physically active during the closure. For closed schools, the most frequently cited challenges included "student access to online learning", "teacher/student communication" and "teacher remote work arrangements". For open schools, the most commonly reported challenges included "social distancing", "access to gymnasium/equipment", and "concern for personal health and wellbeing". CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused important reductions in PE requirements and time engaged in physical activity. Challenges experienced by teachers were identified for closed and open schools.

Associations between gender, school socioeconomic status, and cardiorespiratory fitness among elementary and middle school students.

BACKGROUND: Schools play an important role in providing access to physical activity opportunities for children. There are common economic and gender disparities in physical activity and health-related fitness among children, which may inform a school's programming needs. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding about gender, school-level socioeconomic status, and children's cardiorespiratory fitness. METHODS: This observational study used 2017-2018 school year data from schools in the Dallas Metropolitan area participating in the Healthy Zone School (HZS) program. Three data sources were integrated: 1) FitnessGram® data, 2) school-level data from the Texas Education Agency, and 3) HZS survey data. Being in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) for aerobic capacity was the dependent variable, and gender and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students (at the school-level) were key independent variables. Mixed-effects logistic regression models examined associations between dependent and independent variables. Final models were adjusted for age and type of aerobic test. RESULTS: There were 67 schools and 15,052 students included in the analysis. When testing main effects, girls had lower odds for being in the HFZ for aerobic capacity than boys (OR = 0.54, CI = 0.47-0.62). Additionally, having a greater percentage of students who were economically disadvantaged was associated with lower odds for being in the HFZ for aerobic capacity (0.98, CI = 0.98-0.99). There was a significant interaction between gender and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Results indicated girls had even lower odds (than boys) for being in the HFZ in schools with 90% economically disadvantaged students (OR = 0.44, CI = 0.35-0.55) versus in schools with 15% economically disadvantage students (OR = 0.62, CI = 0.51-0.76). CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest girls in Healthy Zone Schools have lower odds to meet aerobic capacity fitness standards than boys. Additionally, boys and girls in schools serving a greater percentage of economically disadvantaged students have lower odds to meet aerobic capacity fitness standards. Last, girls have even lower odds of meeting HFZ standard when attending a school serving a greater percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Thus, schools need to provide more programs for girls targeting aerobic physical activity. This is especially important for schools serving a high percentage of low-income students.

Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Programming in Schools to Support Student's Health-Related Fitness: An Observational Study.

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines recommend schools use a coordinated health approach to support healthy eating and physical activity. This study examines whether the number of healthy eating and physical activity programs and activities used by schools and their perceived success relate to students' health-related fitness. This observational study used data from the Healthy Zone Schools Program. Data (collected in 2017-2019) were integrated from three sources: (1) school surveys, (2) FitnessGram®, and (3) the Texas Education Agency. Independent variables were the number of health promotion programs and activities and their perceived success; dependent variables were meeting Healthy Fitness Zone Standards (HFZ) for aerobic capacity and body mass index (BMI). We used mixed-effects logistic regression models. Fifty-six schools were in the analytic sample (n = 15,096 students with aerobic capacity data and n = 19,969 with BMI data). Results indicated the perceived success of physical activity programs/activities was significantly associated with students meeting HFZ standards for aerobic capacity (OR = 1.32, CI = 1.06-1.63). There was a significant direct association between the number of physical activity and healthy eating activities implemented (OR = 1.04, CI = 1.01-1.06) and students meeting HFZ for BMI. Schools using multiple health programs and activities need to balance the number provided with their capacity to maintain success.