Sustainability Requires Many Faces of Support.

Purpose: This study focused on the sustainability of a school-wide health behavior intervention in rural schools in the Southwestern US. Informed by the seven premises of Theories of Action with Merit, the purpose of this study was to investigate which portion(s) of a five-year, school-wide health behavior intervention were still in practice (i.e. sustainable), and why they were maintained following the removal of funding and resources for the program. Method: Teachers (N = 41) participated in individual, semi-structured interviews during which they shared what aspects of the original intervention were retained as part of personal classroom practices or of the school culture. Teachers reflected on facilitators and barriers to the sustainability of these practices. Data also included field notes from campus visits. To establish trustworthiness, data triangulation (interview transcripts, survey results, and field notes) provided multiple angles of analysis, and two researchers negotiated all themes. Results: Using the premises of the Theories of Action with Merit, teachers' comments often circulated around themes of administrative support and personal investment/interest in healthy behaviors. Additional themes of sustainability included feeling capable and physical activity being the "norm" at their school. Conclusions: Teachers' personal beliefs and self-efficacy in physical literacy held the highest importance in sustaining classroom healthy behavior practices as opposed to the district or state expectations for healthy behaviors. Administrator support was key to whole-school integration and sustainability of practices, however, teachers described evidence of support differently suggesting administrators need awareness of how messages of support are being translated.

Classroom Teachers' Perceived Barriers to Implementing Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (TPB- CSPAP): Instrument Development.

Although physical education teachers generally act as the physical activity champion and promote adherence to whole-school physical activity programs, classroom teachers manage the majority of students' access to movement throughout the school day. Purpose: To support the adoption of a whole-school physical activity program, this study developed an instrument that identifies barriers perceived by classroom teachers related to adopting this type of program in their school. Method: A four-step process provided the conceptual framework for this instrument development (literature review, expert review, quantitative evaluation, and validation). The final validation phase (N = 520 teachers) included two individual analyses to separately evaluate respondents from elementary (K-5) and secondary levels (6-12). Each group was randomly split to run exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the models. Results: CFA results support models with adequate fit to the data for barriers for elementary, e.g., (SRMR = 0.0726; Bentler CFI = 0.92.79) and secondary (SRMR = 0.0813; Bentler CFI = 0.9374) teachers for whole-school programming. Conclusion: This instrument can be used by school personnel and researchers to understand perceived barriers for classroom teachers to implement a whole-school physical activity program in their context and then follow up to remove or reduce the barriers.

Fishing Downstream: Does CSPAP Promotion During PETE Transfer to Teaching Practice by K-12 Physical Educators?

Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) training has the potential to influence graduates' decisions as physical educators. Utilizing themes from Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations and Lawson's Occupational Socialization theories, we focused on graduates from a single PETE program which, beginning in 2007, began integrating content, expectations, and experiences relating to an expanded role of the physical educator such as in comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine transfer in terms of university training leading to teaching practices in expanded physical activity programming. Method: An electronic questionnaire was sent to 335 graduates from May 2000 through May 2019. Sixty-seven graduates' questionnaires were investigated looking at perceptions of CSPAP as an innovation, current expanded physical activity (PA) offerings, and memories of PETE. Additionally, 13 participants participated in a school visit and interview which acted as a fidelity check for self-reported levels of expanded PA programming reported in the questionnaire. Results: All 67 graduates included some amount of expanded PA programming. Positive correlations were found with perception of CSPAP as an innovation, for both year of graduation and memory of PETE programming, thus students exposed to CSPAP programming during PETE were implementing components at their schools at higher levels. Conclusion: There is positive potential for professional socialization to influence graduates' practices. Perceptions of CSPAP as an innovation were positive and support the promotion of triability and starting small when PETE programs encourage expanded PA programming.

System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth: A Systematic Review of US and Canadian Studies.

BACKGROUND: The System of Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth (SOPLAY) has assisted in providing valid and reliable data of youth physical activity and characteristics specific to environmental contexts. The review aimed to examine empirical research that employed the SOPLAY instrument to measure physical activity in leisure-based activity environments in North American countries. METHODS: The review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. A systematic search was conducted with an exhaustive process using 10 electronic databases to locate peer-reviewed studies implementing SOPLAY that were published between 2000 and 2021. RESULTS: A total of 60 studies were included in the review. Most studies (n = 35) reported physical activity findings related to contextual characteristics measured using SOPLAY. Interestingly, a few of the studies (n = 8) found the provision of equipment and supervision, particularly adult supervision, significantly increased child physical activity observed. CONCLUSIONS: This review provides information relative to the group-level physical activity observed across multiple contexts (ie, playgrounds, parks, recreation centers) using a validated direct observation instrument.

Off-Hours Facility Use in Public High Schools: Physical Activity Potential vs. Reality.

Purpose: Public high school campuses in the United States are generally built with multiple dedicated physical activity facilities from soccer fields to swimming pools. When viewed from a community health standpoint, these campuses hold great potential (if accessible) in providing community members spaces where they can engage in physical activity during non-school hours. Guided by the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) the purpose of this study was to assess access to and use of all physical activity areas on public high school campuses during non-school hours on weekdays and weekend days. Method: Direct observation using the SOPARC instrument was used to assess 19 public high schools across four districts in the Western U.S., by completing 3959 physical activity area sweeps. Results: Facilities were accessible about half of the time (53.4%), but empty 91% of the time. Public high school campuses are an underused resource for community physical activity during non-school hours. Discussion: Increased use of joint-use agreements would enable school districts to increase both the use of campus-based physical activity facilities and physical activity levels of community members who themselves fund the construction and maintenance of schools and school grounds through local taxes. This would help increase the schools' caloric footprint and contribute to improving public health.

The Effectiveness of Equipment Provisions on Rural Middle School Students' Physical Activity During Lunch Recess.

BACKGROUND: Environmental provisions can boost students' discretionary participation in physical activity (PA) during lunchtime at school. This study investigated the effectiveness of providing PA equipment as an environmental intervention on middle school students' PA levels and stakeholders' perceptions of the effectiveness of equipment provisions during school lunch recess. METHODS: A baseline-intervention research design was used in this study with a first baseline phase followed by an intervention phase (ie, equipment provision phase). A total of 514 students at 2 middle schools (school 1 and school 2) in a rural area of the western United States were observed directly using the System for Observing Play and Leisure Activity in Youth instrument. Interviews were conducted with stakeholders. Paired-sample t tests and visual analysis were conducted to explore differences in PA levels by gender, and common comparison (with trustworthiness measures) was used with the interview data. RESULTS: The overall percentage of moderate to vigorous PA levels was increased in both schools (ranging from 8.0% to 24.0%). In school 2, there was a significant difference in seventh- and eighth-grade students' moderate to vigorous PA levels from the baseline. Three major themes were identified: (1) unmotivated, (2) unequipped, and (3) unquestionable changes (with students becoming more active). CONCLUSIONS: Environmental supports (access, equipment, and supervision) significantly and positively influenced middle school students' lunchtime PA levels.

Effectiveness of Secondary School Conceptual Physical Education: A 20-Year Longitudinal Study.

BACKGROUND: Previous research findings from Project Active Teen demonstrated the effectiveness of high school conceptual physical education (CPE) in promoting active lifestyles. METHOD: This study followed Project Active Teen participants 20 years after graduation from high school and 24 years after taking a CPE class. Physical activity behaviors were assessed using the same procedures as previous Project Active Teen studies. Activity patterns were compared with patterns while in high school and shortly after high school graduation. Activity patterns were also compared with a national sample of age-equivalent adults. RESULTS: Twenty years after high school graduation, former CPE students were less likely to be inactive and more likely to be moderately active than when in high school and were less likely to be inactive and more likely to be moderately active than national sample age-equivalent peers. They were typically not more vigorously physically active than comparison groups. CONCLUSION: Results support the long-term effectiveness of CPE in reducing inactive behavior and promoting moderate physical activity later in life.

Developing the System for Observing Behavioral Ecology for Youth in Schools Instrument.

BACKGROUND: Behavioral support may be effective in increasing physical activity (PA) in school settings. However, there are no data collection systems to concurrently record PA and behavioral support. This paper describes the development and validation of the System for Observing Behavioral Ecology for Youth in Schools (SOBEYS)-an instrument used with existing observation systems to record PA within a behavioral ecological context. METHODS: In 2013, experts created a set of behavioral categories to record prompting and reinforcement of PA during a recreational school activity program. The school provided supervision and equipment for lunchtime PA, making it possible to assess both PA and behavioral support. The system was implemented in spring semester 2014 at 1 suburban junior high school (N = 1452; 48% girls, 74% Caucasian) in the western Unites States. RESULTS: Following multiple field trials, the SOBEYS instrument recorded behavioral categories of visual and verbal prompting, verbal, and nonreinforcement by adults and peers, and token reinforcement. Construct validity and acceptable interobserver agreement (>90%; kappa between 0.22 and 0.94) resulted. CONCLUSION: Trained SOBEYS users can accurately and reliably record the presence of behavioral support aimed at prompting and reinforcing PA in conjunction with established systematic observation instruments to record PA context and quantity.

Step Counts on Weekdays, Weekends, and During Physical Education of Navajo High School Students.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the physical activity patterns of youth is important for the implementation and evaluation of programming and interventions designed to change behavior. To date, little is known about the objectively measured physical activity patterns of Native American youth. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to examine the step counts of Navajo youth during weekdays, weekend days, and physical education classes. METHODS: Participants included 63 high school students (mean age = 15.14 ± 1.37 years). Youth wore a pedometer (Walk-4-Life 2505) for seven consecutive days. Means and standard deviations were calculated for weekdays, weekend days, and physical education. RESULTS: Boys averaged 11,078 ± 4400 steps/weekday compared to 6493 ± 5651 on weekend days. Girls averaged 7567 ± 5614 on weekdays compared to 7589 ± 7712 on weekend days. Both boys (20 %) and girls (26 %) accumulated a large percentage of their weekday step counts from physical education classes. CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the importance of additional physical activity opportunities in the community. Youth are falling well short of recommended levels of physical activity with physical education being an important source of physical activity.

An Examination of Four Traditional School Physical Activity Models on Children's Step Counts and MVPA.

UNLABELLED: Schools have been identified as primary societal institutions for promoting children's physical activity (PA); however, limited evidence exists demonstrating which traditional school-based PA models maximize children's PA. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to compare step counts and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) across 4 traditional school PA modules. METHOD: Step count and MVPA data were collected on 5 consecutive school days from 298 children (Mage = 10.0 ± 0.6 years; 55% female) in Grade 5. PA was measured using the NL-1000 piezoelectric pedometer. The 4 models included (a) recess only, (b) multiple recesses, (c) recess and physical education (PE), and (d) multiple recesses and PE. RESULTS: Children accumulated the greatest PA on days that they had PE and multiple recess opportunities (5,242 ± 1,690 steps; 15.3 ± 8.8 min of MVPA). Children accumulated the least amount of PA on days with only 1 recess opportunity (3,312 ± 445 steps; 7.1 ± 2.3 min of MVPA). Across all models, children accumulated an additional 1,140 steps and 4.1 min of MVPA on PE days. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that PE is the most important school PA opportunity for maximizing children's PA. However, on days without PE, a 2nd recess can increase school PA by 20% (Δ = 850 steps; 3.8 min of MVPA).

Health-related fitness of American Indian youth.

UNLABELLED: A physically fit lifestyle is important for American Indian (AI) youth who are at risk for hypokinetic diseases, particularly type 2 diabetes. Some evidence exists on the physical activity patterns of AI youth, but there is little information on their health-related fitness. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the health-related fitness levels of youth living in an AI community. METHOD: Participants included youth from 5th to 9th grade (N = 85) in a Southwestern U.S. AI community. Youth were of AI descent and were 12.36 +/- 1.68 years of age. Participants completed 5 parts of the FITNESSGRAM fitness test during physical education. The tests included the Progressive Aerobic Cardiorespiratory Endurance Run fitness test (cardiovascular fitness), curl-up (muscular endurance), pushup (muscular strength), sit-and-reach (flexibility), and body mass index (estimated body composition). RESULTS: Results were similar to other youth studies with some of the students reaching the healthy fitness zone for muscular strength (28%), body composition (30%), flexibility (60%), aerobic fitness (63%), and muscular endurance (74%). CONCLUSIONS: Findings highlight the capacity for improvement for students across all of the components of health-related fitness.

Daily physical activity patterns of children living in an American Indian community.

BACKGROUND: Embracing a physically active lifestyle is especially important for American Indian (AI) children who are at a greater risk for hypokinetic diseases, particularly Type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to describe AI children's pedometer-determined physical activity (PA) segmented into prominent daily activity patterns. METHODS: Participants included 5th- and 6th-grade children (N = 77) attending school from 1 Southwestern US AI community. Children wore a pedometer (Yamax Digiwalker SW-200) for 7 consecutive days. RESULTS: Boys accumulated 12,621 (± 5385) steps/weekday and girls accumulated 11,640 (± 3695) steps/weekday of which 38% (4,779 ± 1271) and 35% (4,027 ± 1285) were accumulated at school for boys and girls, respectively. Physical education (PE) provided the single largest source of PA during school for both boys (25% or 3117 steps/day) and girls (23% or 2638 steps/day). Lunchtime recess provided 1612 (13%) and 1241 (11%) steps/day for boys and girls, respectively. Children were significantly less active on weekend days, accumulating 8066 ± 1959 (boys) and 6676 ± 1884 (girls). CONCLUSIONS: Although children accumulate a majority of their steps outside of school, this study highlights the important contribution of PE to the overall PA accumulation of children living in AI communities. Further, PA programming during the weekend appears to be important for this population.

Pedometer-determined segmented physical activity patterns of fourth- and fifth-grade children.

BACKGROUND: The need to understand where and how much physical activity (PA) children accumulate has become important in assisting the development, implementation, and evaluation of PA interventions. The purpose of this study was to describe the daily PA patterns of children during the segmented school-week. METHODS: 829 children participated by wearing pedometers (Yamax-Digiwalker SW-200) for 5 consecutive days. Students recorded their steps at arrival/departure from school, Physical Education (PE), recess, and lunchtime. RESULTS: Boys took significantly more steps/day than girls during most PA opportunities; recess, t(440)=8.80, P<.01; lunch, t(811)=14.57, P<.01; outside of school, t(763)=5.34, P<.01; school, t(811)=10.61, P<.01; and total day, t(782)=7.69, P<.01. Boys and girls accumulated a similar number of steps t(711) .69, P=.09 during PE. For boys, lunchtime represented the largest single source of PA (13.4%) at school, followed by PE (12.7%) and recess (9.5%). For girls, PE was the largest (14.3%), followed by lunchtime (11.7%) and recess (8.3%). CONCLUSION: An understanding of the contributions of the in-school segments can serve as baseline measures for practitioners and researchers to use in school-based PA interventions.

Step counts of non-white minority children and youth by gender, grade level, race/ethnicity, and mode of school transportation.

BACKGROUND: The purposes of this study were to describe and analyze the steps/d of nonwhite minority children and youth by gender, grade level, race/ethnicity, and mode of school transportation. A secondary purpose was to compare the steps/d of minority children and youth to their Caucasian grade-level counterparts. METHODS: Participants were 547 minority youth grades 5 to 8 from 4 urban schools. Participants wore sealed pedometers for 6 consecutive week/school days. Three hundred and ten participants responded to a questionnaire concerning their mode of transportation to and from school. RESULTS: Statistical analyses indicated a main effect for gender (F(3, 546) = 13.50, P < .001) with no interaction. Boys (12,589 ± 3921) accumulated significantly more steps/d than girls (9,539 ± 3,135). Further analyses also revealed a significant main effect for mode of school transportation (F(2, 309) = 15.97, P ≤ .001). Walkers (12,614 ± 4169) obtained significantly more steps/d than car (10,021 ± 2856) or bus (10,230 ± 3666) transit users. CONCLUSIONS: Minority boys obtain similar steps/d as their Caucasian grade-level counterparts; minority girls obtain less steps/d than their Caucasian grade-level counterparts. Minority youth who actively commute are more likely to meet PA recommendations than nonactive commuters.

Step counts of 10- to 11-year-old children by ethnicity and metropolitan status.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to conduct a secondary analysis by combining 2 pedometer data sets to describe and analyze pedometer-determined steps/day of children by ethnicity and metropolitan status. METHODS: Participants were 582 children (309 girls, 273 boys; 53% Hispanic, 26% Caucasian, 21% African American) age 10 to 11 years (M = 10.37 +/- 0.48) attending 1 of 10 schools located in urban, suburban, and rural settings. Participants wore a research grade pedometer for at least 3 week/school days. Mean steps/day were analyzed by gender, ethnicity, and metropolitan status. RESULTS: Statistical analyses indicated 1) boys (12,853 +/- 3831; P < .001) obtained significantly more steps/day than girls (10,409 +/- 3136); 2) African American (10,709 +/- 3386; P < .05) children accumulated significantly less steps/day than Hispanic (11,845 +/- 3901) and Caucasian (11,668 +/- 3369) children; and 3) urban (10,856 +/- 3706; P < .05) children obtained significantly less steps/day than suburban (12,297 +/- 3616) and rural (11,934 +/- 3374) children. CONCLUSIONS: Findings support self-report data demonstrating reduced physical activity among African American children and youth, especially girls, and among children and youth living in urban areas. Possible reasons for these discrepancies are explored.