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Daily physical activity (PA) benefits children's and adolescents' overall health while reducing the likelihood of obesity. Elementary school physical education (PE) classes provide opportunities for children and adolescents not only to participate in PA but also to build the knowledge and skills needed to be physically active across their lifetime. Physical Best (PB) is one program physical educators might use to develop students' physical literacy and skills. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of PB program inclusion on elementary PE students' PA levels and health-related fitness knowledge (HRFK). Three activity games were paired once with a PB fitness concept-based warm-up activity and once with a traditional warm-up activity for six lessons. PA levels of elementary school students (n = 75, 30 males, 45 females) were recorded with both movement tracking bracelets and heart monitors during these six PE lessons. Means were calculated for movements and time in and above target heart rate zone (TZ) by warm-up type (PB vs. traditional), sex, and grade level. An HRFK assessment given to students pre- and postintervention assessed changes in fitness knowledge. Repeated-measures analysis of variances were utilized in the comparison of sex and grade level differences in relation to movements, TZ minutes, and HRFK assessment scores. Overall, children had significantly more movements in the PB lessons compared with traditional lessons (p < .05), while there was no difference in TZ minutes. HRFK assessment scores increased from pre- to post intervention (p < .05). Children accrued more movements in PB warm-up lessons than in traditional warm-up lessons but exhibited no difference in PA intensity. Children also increased HRFK from pre- to post-PB experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Project Fit America (PFA) curriculum was initiated in 1990 with a mission to create and provide quality opportunities for American school children to be active, healthy, and fit. This study assessed the effect of the PFA curriculum and outdoor fitness equipment on fitness testing scores of elementary school students. Participants were 4th- and 5th-grade students including 62 females and 54 males. Students were divided into one of four groups: males experiencing (EM) or not experiencing (NEM) the PFA curriculum and females experiencing (EF) and not experiencing (NEF) the PFA curriculum. Students were tested once in the fall and once in the spring for the following activities: cadence push-ups, cadence curl-ups, sit-and-reach, and the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test. EM and EF groups showed significant increases in their pushup, t(33) = -2.088, p = 0.045, and t(28) = -2.783, p = 0.010, and curl-up, t(33) = -2.866, p = 0.007, and t(28) = -3.08, p = 0.005, posttesting scores. Additionally, NEM showed significant increases in their PACER, t(19) = -2.202, p = 0.04, posttesting score. The results of this study indicate the implementation of the PFA curriculum may assist in increasing elementary student muscular strength and endurance fitness testing scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Project Fit America (PFA) curriculum was initiated in 1990 with a mission to provide opportunities for all American children to be fit with unique lessons and outdoor fitness equipment. PURPOSE: In this study, the physical education (PE) fitness testing scores of elementary school students were examined to determine the effect of PFA curriculum inclusion. Methods: A total of 72 (M= 31, F=41) 4th and 5th grade students participated. Students were divided into one of four groups: males experiencing (EM) or not experiencing (NEM) the PFA curriculum and females experiencing (EF) and not experiencing (NEF) the PFA curriculum. At this school, fitness testing was completed twice a year as part of regular PE assessment and included the following activities: cadence push-ups, cadence curl-ups, sit and reach, and the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) test. Findings: The EM group showed significant increases in their post-test scores for both curl-ups (t(20) = -2.348, p = 0.029) and PACER (t(19) = -2.806, p = 0.011) while the EF group showed significant increases for average sit and reach (t(25) = -2.518, p = 0.019) only. The NEM group showed significantly greater post-test scores for curl-ups (t(9) = -2.427, p = 0.038). The NEF group showed no significant increases for any of the four tests. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that PFA inclusion serves to improve student's physical fitness measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed the effect of Physical Best (PB) Curriculum on activity levels of children in physical education class. Activity levels of elementary school students (N=92, males = 50, females = 42) were recorded throughout six normally scheduled physical education class periods. Students participated in both traditional and PB curriculums and were asked not to change any physical activity and performance behaviors during data collection. Activity levels were recorded with movement tracking bracelets and heart rate monitors; which, provided averages for steps and timein-target-zone (TZ) per class period. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare steps and TZ between the two groups. Overall, students did not record as many steps or time in target heart rate zone while participating in lessons that began with a PB warmup. The differences of average steps and TZ recorded between PB and traditional curriculums were significant (p< 0.05) for all grades and gender, except third grade girls. The elementary school students in this study recorded, on average, fewer movements and spent less time in their target heart rate zone during PB activities than in their traditional activities. However, student knowledge of their own fitness outcomes may motivate them to be physically active outside of class. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]