IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0210444.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Elementary school physical activity opportunities and physical fitness of students: A statewide cross-sectional study of schools

Author

Listed:
  • Patricia C Cheung
  • Padra A Franks
  • Michael R Kramer
  • Christi M Kay
  • Carolyn D Drews-Botsch
  • Jean A Welsh
  • Julie A Gazmararian

Abstract

Background: Using a cross-sectional design, we assessed the relationship between the time schools provide for physical activity and the proportion of students achieving a healthy aerobic capacity or body mass index. Methods: In 2013–2014, physical education and grade-level teachers from 905 of 1,244 Georgia elementary schools provided survey data about the frequency and duration of physical activity opportunities offered before, during, and after school. Log-binomial models related the weekly physical activity minutes provided by schools to the proportion of children in the FitnessGram healthy fitness zone for aerobic capacity or body mass index while adjusting for school characteristics and demographics. Results: During-school physical activity time was not associated with student fitness, but schools with before-school physical activity programs had a moderately higher prevalence of healthy aerobic capacity (prevalence ratio among girls: 1.06; 99% confidence interval: 1.00–1.13; prevalence ratio among boys: 1.03; 99% confidence interval: 0.99–1.08). Each additional 30 minutes of recess per week was associated with no more than a 3%-higher proportion of students with healthy body mass indexes (prevalence ratio among girls: 1.01; 99% confidence interval: 1.00–1.03; prevalence ratio among boys: 1.01; 99% confidence interval: 0.99–1.03). Conclusions: The amount of physical activity time provided by schools is not strongly associated with school-aggregated student fitness. Future studies should be designed to assess the importance of school-based physical activity time on student fitness, relative to physical activity type and quality.

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia C Cheung & Padra A Franks & Michael R Kramer & Christi M Kay & Carolyn D Drews-Botsch & Jean A Welsh & Julie A Gazmararian, 2019. "Elementary school physical activity opportunities and physical fitness of students: A statewide cross-sectional study of schools," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0210444
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210444
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0210444
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0210444&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0210444?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cawley, John & Frisvold, David & Meyerhoefer, Chad, 2013. "The impact of physical education on obesity among elementary school children," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 743-755.
    2. Tracy K Richmond & Marc N Elliott & Luisa Franzini & Ichiro Kawachi & Margaret O Caughy & M Janice Gilliland & Courtney E Walls & Frank A Franklin & Richard Lowry & Stephen W Banspach & Mark A Schuste, 2014. "School Programs and Characteristics and Their Influence on Student BMI: Findings from Healthy Passages," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, January.
    3. Kahan, D. & McKenzie, T.L., 2015. "The potential and reality of physical education in controlling overweight and obesity," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 105(4), pages 653-659.
    4. Sallis, J.F. & McKenzie, T.L. & Alcaraz, J.E. & Kolody, B. & Faucette, N. & Hovell, M.F., 1997. "The effects of a 2-year physical education program (SPARK) on physical activity and fitness in elementary school students," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(8), pages 1328-1334.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Black, Nicole & Johnston, David W. & Propper, Carol & Shields, Michael A., 2019. "The effect of school sports facilities on physical activity, health and socioeconomic status in adulthood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 120-128.
    2. Laura C. Leviton, 2008. "Children's Healthy Weight and the School Environment," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 615(1), pages 38-55, January.
    3. Sara M. St. George & Mariya Petrova & Tae Kyoung Lee & Krystal M. Sardinas & Marissa A. Kobayashi & Sarah E. Messiah & Guillermo Prado, 2018. "Predictors of Participant Attendance Patterns in a Family-Based Intervention for Overweight and Obese Hispanic Adolescents," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-19, July.
    4. Dimitrios Nikolaou & Laura M. Crispin, 2022. "Estimating the effects of sports and physical exercise on bullying," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(2), pages 283-303, April.
    5. Maruyama, Shiko & Nakamura, Sayaka, 2018. "Why are women slimmer than men in developed countries?," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 1-13.
    6. Lucila Berniell & Dolores de la Mata & Nieves Valdés, 2013. "Spillovers Of Health Education At School On Parents' Physical Activity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(9), pages 1004-1020, September.
    7. Levasseur, Pierre, 2021. "Do junk food bans in school really reduce childhood overweight? Evidence from Brazil," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    8. Lechner, Michael & Felfe, Christina & Steinmayr, Andreas, 2011. "Sports and Child Development," CEPR Discussion Papers 8523, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Jan Marcus & Thomas Siedler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2022. "The Long-Run Effects of Sports Club Vouchers for Primary School Children," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 128-165, August.
    10. Trenton G. Smith & Attila Tasnádi, 2014. "The Economics of Information, Deep Capture, and the Obesity Debate," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(2), pages 533-541.
    11. Bart H. H. Golsteyn & Maria W. J. Jansen & Dave H. H. Van Kann & Annelore M. C. Verhagen, 2020. "Does Stimulating Physical Activity Affect School Performance?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 39(1), pages 64-95, January.
    12. Anne L. Escaron & Corina Martinez & Monica Lara & Celia Vega-Herrera & Denise Rios & Marielena Lara & Michael Hochman, 2020. "Program Evaluation of Environmental and Policy Approaches to Physical Activity Promotion in a Lower Income Latinx School District in Southeast Los Angeles," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(22), pages 1-13, November.
    13. Anderson, Patricia M. & Butcher, Kristin F. & Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, 2019. "Understanding recent trends in childhood obesity in the United States," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 16-25.
    14. Donal O’Neill & Olive Sweetman, 2016. "Bounding obesity rates in the presence of self-reporting errors," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 857-871, May.
    15. Joseph J. Sabia & Thanh Tam Nguyen & Oren Rosenberg, 2017. "High School Physical Education Requirements and Youth Body Weight: New Evidence from the YRBS," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(10), pages 1291-1306, October.
    16. Timothy A. Brusseau & Ryan D. Burns, 2018. "Children’s Weight Gain and Cardiovascular Fitness Loss over the Summer," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-8, December.
    17. Ryan Donald Burns & Timothy A. Brusseau & Yang Bai & Wonwoo Byun, 2021. "Segmented School Physical Activity and Weight Status in Children: Application of Compositional Data Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(6), pages 1-11, March.
    18. Chang, Chaeyoung & Jung, Haeil, 2017. "The role of formal schooling on weight in young children," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 1-12.
    19. Steven Bednar & Kathryn Rouse, 2020. "The effect of physical education on children's body weight and human capital: New evidence from the ECLS‐K:2011," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(4), pages 393-405, April.
    20. D'Agostino, Emily M. & Patel, Hersila H. & Ahmed, Zafar & Hansen, Eric & Sunil Mathew, M. & Nardi, Maria I. & Messiah, Sarah E., 2018. "Impact of change in neighborhood racial/ethnic segregation on cardiovascular health in minority youth attending a park-based afterschool program," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 116-129.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0210444. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.