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Background: Recess provides many physical, mental, and social benefits for students; however, the most recent systematic review examining the benefits of recess was conducted over a decade ago. The purpose of this paper was to determine the current benefits of school recess by conducting an updated systematic review of the literature. Methods: Multiple databases were systematically examined to find articles fitting the following inclusionary criteria: (a) school recess, (b) all schooling before college, and (c) recess benefits of any kind. Research was limited to literature published between June 2009 and July 2020. Results: Nine studies were included in this review. The majority of studies examined elementary-aged students. Seven studies were conducted in the United States, and 2 studies were conducted internationally. Recess provided school-aged children academic and cognitive benefits, behavioral and emotional benefits, physical benefits, and social benefits. Implications for School Health Policy, Practice, and Equity: Providing recess for all school levels positively impacts the whole child; there was no literature implicating negative impacts of recess. Conclusions: Schools can improve overall student health and belonging by redesigning and/or implementing daily recess.

Physical activity (PA) promotion for youth has long been thought of as a public health issue. However, with increases in diseases associated with a sedentary lifestyle and the known benefits of PA, increasing the PA levels of children and adolescents has become a major public health concern. To this end, numerous organizations are calling on schools to take a leadership role in youth PA promotion. Prior to developing and evaluating interventions, it is important to understand the amount of PA children accumulate during the school day and across the school year. It is also important to understand the role of season on children's PA, including school-day PA. While some argued that seasonality has a limited role in children's PA levels, others found children are more active when the weather is more conducive to outdoor activity. However, little is known about the impact of seasonality on children's school PA. The purpose of this study was to examine children's number of steps during school and out-of-school in fall and winter. The authors also examined the differences between steps while at school (school steps) and total daily steps on school days (daily steps) during the two seasons. A better understanding of these differences may help better prioritize intervention or school resources to locations and seasons identified as low active. This study was the first to examine differences between school and out-of-school steps. The authors' findings are consistent with previous seasonality research, with children having higher daily activity in fall, when the weather was suitable for outside PA, than in winter when temperatures were much lower. (Contains 2 tables.)

Background: Effective physical activity (PA) interventions are warranted for youth, and schools have been identified as logical locations for such involvement. Experts and professionals in the field promote comprehensive school PA programs, including classroom PA. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a low-cost, teacher-directed classroom-based intervention on the school PA of elementary children. Methods: Nine classroom teachers were provided inexpensive curricula and trained to implement and instruct PA breaks (2 x 30 minute training sessions). The teachers were encouraged to lead 1 activity break per day after the training. One hundred and six elementary students wore pedometers up to 12 days over 3 monitoring periods during the school year (baseline, follow-up, post follow-up) to assess the effectiveness and the sustainability of the intervention. The teachers self-reported the frequency of activity breaks instructed. Results: The teachers (n = 5) who complied with the recommended 1 activity break per day had students who accrued approximately 33% more mean school steps/day at follow-up (approximately 1100) and post follow-up (approximately 1350) compared to controls. Teachers (n = 4) in the intervention who did not comply with the 1 activity break per day recommendation had students accrue similar mean school steps/day as controls. Conclusion: Inexpensive, teacher-directed classroom-based PA interventions can be effective in improving children's PA levels if teachers implement 1 activity break per school day. We recommend promoting the notion of 1 activity break per day in the classroom as part of a comprehensive school PA program that includes quality physical education, recess, and before/after school programs. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.)

Seasonality appears to have an impact on children's physical activity levels, but equivocal findings demand more study in this area. With the increased use of pedometers in both research and practice, collecting descriptive data in various seasons to examine the impact of seasonality on pedometer-measured physical activity among children is warranted. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the pedometer-determined children's weekday physical activity levels during winter and spring. Participants were first- through fifth-grade students attending two elementary schools in the southern United States. Boys in this study were more active than girls, regardless of season. This finding is consistent with other studies using pedometers and similarly aged children. Although boys were significantly more active than girls during winter and spring, the difference was much less (mean difference = 1,080 steps) during winter. Furthermore, the variability of physical activity levels for boys and girls was lower in the winter. This decreased variability likely resulted from fewer opportunities to be active. Both boys and girls were significantly more active during spring than in winter. Two factors possibly contributed to this finding. The first was the temperature. During the spring data collection, the climate was much more conducive to outdoor physical activity. When the issue of seasonality is examined, the temperature is often the focus; however, it is possible that children would be physically active if they had sufficient daylight hours, even if it were cold. Future research is warranted to examine whether the temperature or daylight hours contribute to lower physical activity levels during winter. (Contains 1 table.)

There have been limited prospective studies investigating physical activity and physical self-perceptions in children. In this investigation, mean steps/day did not significantly change from late elementary to junior high for either boys or girls; however, boys accumulated more steps both at baseline and follow-up. Physical self-perception measures were significantly related to changes in steps/day and accounted for 21% (15% adjusted) of the variance after controlling for demographic/biological variables, R[superscript 2] change = 0.21, adjusted R[superscript 2] change = 0.15, F(5, 88) = 4.66, p less than 0.001. Sport competence emerged as the most important predictor, t(88) = -3.76, p less than 0.001, and was inversely related to physical activity change. The lack of opportunities to participate in sport activities normally found at the onset of adolescence may help explain this unexpected result. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

Limited data are available on the contributory and compensatory relationships between physical education and physical activity in children. Four hundred eighty-five (280 girls) children in first through sixth grades wore sealed pedometers during waking hours, including normally scheduled physical education lessons. The least, moderately, and most active children accumulated approximately 1,700, 1,100, and 2,500 more steps/day, respectively, on school days with physical education. No compensatory increases in physical activity were found on school days that did not offer physical education. The implications of the contributory relationship are highlighted by the evidence that 50% of the least active children were at risk for overweight or overweight and that no compensatory increases in physical activity were found on school days when physical education classes were not scheduled. (Contains 4 figures.)

The purpose of this study was to examine children's physical activity during recess and outside of school. Third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students (N = 270; 121 boys, age = 9.5 plus or minus 0.9 years; 150 girls, age = 9.6 plus or minus 0.9 years) wore sealed pedometers during a 15-minute recess period and outside of school for 4 consecutive school days. A factorial analysis of variance (grade by gender) was used to examine differences among grades and between genders for the following variables: recess activity time (RAT), recess step counts (RSC), out-of-school activity time (OAT), and out-of-school step counts (OSC). For all outcome variables, there were no significant interactions between grade and gender and no significant main effect for grade. A significant main effect for gender (F[1,264] = 73.1, p less than 0.001) indicated that boys accumulated more RSC and OSC than girls (1268 plus or minus 341 vs 914 plus or minus 261 and 7229 plus or minus 2877 vs 5808 plus or minus 2059, respectively) and more RAT and OAT than girls (11.7 plus or minus 2.4 vs 9.4 plus or minus 2.2 and 77.3 plus or minus 28 vs 67.4 plus or minus 21, respectively). Boys spent 78% and girls spent 63% of their recess time engaged in physical activity. Outside of school, girls spent 20% and boys spent 25% of their time engaged in physical activity. RAT comprised 14% and 16% of total discretionary activity time for girls and boys, respectively. Boys in this study are more active during discretionary time periods compared to girls. Study participants spent the majority of their recess time engaged in physical activity.

Assessment and evaluation of children's physical fitness should be an educational process. This process is described as the "personalized self-testing" approach. This approach is a form of self-assessment that teaches children to assess their personal level of health-related physical fitness, interpret the results, and use the information (with the teachers help) to develop personal fitness goals. Fitness self-assessment attempts to minimize or eliminate experiences that are negative and comparative, while making fitness assessment student centered, personalized, and educational. In this article, the authors discuss the benefits of the "personalized self-testing approach" and strategies to put it into action. (Contains 3 figures.)

Limited interdisciplinary research has been conducted evaluating the efficacy of imagery interventions on athletic performance and biomechanics simultaneously. This study investigated the effects of two multimodal modeling interventions on intercollegiate softball women's batting statistics and ball exit velocities. Thirteen position players were randomly assigned to either SyberVision (n =6) or Self-Model (n=7) multimodal modeling groups. The SyberVision group consisted of(l) viewing expert models via videos (Syber Vision) and still photos. The Self-Model group consisted of viewing post-game Self-Model videos and audio-feedback sessions. Each group also used imagery rehearsal visual training. The SyberVision intervention was conducted over 84 X 10 minute sessions (-14 total hours), which included before every home and away practices, and games. The Self-Model intervention sessions were conducted after a competitive game, once a week, and included 14 x 1 hour sessions (-14 total hours). Mean batting, slugging, and contact averages were computed at the conclusion of the pre-intervention, intervention, and post-intervention seasons. No significant interaction effects were found indicating no differential effects between the two intervention groups. Time main effects were found and mean batting, slugging, and contact averages significantly increased, p, ********** Past interest in attempting to understand how cognitive variables such as imagery modeling have influenced motor performance has resulted from Bandura's (1977) theory of self-efficacy. Bandura and Adams (1977) [...]

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of postactivation potentiation (PAP) on track-sprint performance after a preload set of 4 repetition maximum (4RM) parallel back half-squat exercises in collegiate women. All subjects (n = 12) participated in 2 testing sessions over a 3-week period. During the first testing session, subjects performed the Controlled protocol consisting of a 4-minute standardized warm-up, followed by a 4-minute active rest, a 100-m track sprint, a second 4-minute active rest, finalized with a second 100-m sprint. The second testing session, the Treatment protocol, consisted of a 4-minute standardized warm-up, followed by 4-minute active rest, sprint, a second 4-minute active rest, a warm-up of 4RM parallel back half-squat, a third 9-minute active rest, finalized with a second sprint. The results indicated that there was a significant improvement of 0.19 seconds (p < 0.05), when the second sprint was preceded by a 4RM back-squat protocol during Treatment. The standardized effect size, d, was 0.82, indicating a large effect size. Additionally, the results indicated that it would be expected that mean sprint times would increase 0.04-0.34 seconds (p < 0.05), when using a preload 4RM squat protocol. There were no significant differences between Control pre and posttests (p > 0.05). The findings suggest that performing a 4RM parallel back half-squat warm-up before a track sprint will have a positive PAP affect on decreased track-sprint times. Track coaches, looking for the 'competitive edge' (PAP effect) may re-warm up their sprinters during meets. KEY WORDS postactivation potentiation, warm-up, recovery

Background: Physical activity guidelines for youth and adults include recommendations for moderate intensity activity to attain health benefits. Indirect calorimetry studies have consistently reported a 100 step·min-1 threshold for moderate intensity walking in adults. No indirect calorimetry studies have investigated step-rate thresholds in children and therefore the primary purpose of the study was to determine preliminary step-rate thresholds for moderate physical activity walking in children. Methods: Oxygen consumption was measured at rest and used to determine 3 and 4 age-adjusted metabolic equivalents (A-AMETs) for 4 treadmill trials (self-selected, 2.5, 3.0, and 3.5 MPH). Two trained observers simultaneously counted children's steps during each walking trial. Step-rate thresholds associated with moderate-intensity activity, defined as 3 and 4 A-AMETs, were determined using hierarchical linear modeling. Results: Regression analysis determined an overall step rate of 112 and 134 steps·min-1 for 3 and 4 A-AMETs respectively. Body mass index (BMI) weight status and age were positively related to A-AMETs. Conclusions: We suggest age and BMI weight status specific recommendations that range from a low of 100 step·min-1 threshold (3 A-AMETs) for overweight/obese 11- to 12-year-olds to a high of 140 step · min-1 threshold (4 A-AMETs) for healthy weight 9- to 10-year-old children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pedometer step-frequency thresholds (120 steps∙min-1, SPM) corresponding to moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) have been proposed for youth. Pedometers now have internal mechanisms to record time spent at or above a user-specified SPM. If pedometers provide comparable MVPA (P-MVPA) estimates to those from accelerometry, this would have broad application for research and the general public. The purpose of this study was to examine the convergent validity of P-MVPA to accelerometer-MVPA for youth. Methods: Youth (N = 149, average 8.6 years, range 5 to 14 years, 60 girls) wore an accelerometer (5-sec epochs) and a pedometer for an average of 5.7 ± 0.8 hours∙day-1. The following accelerometer cutpoints were used to compare P-MVPA: Treuth (TR), Mattocks (MT), Evenson (EV), Puyau (PU), and Freedson (FR) child equation. Comparisons between MVPA estimates were performed using Bland-Altman plots and paired t tests. Results: Overall, P-MVPA was 24.6 mm ± 16.7 vs. TR 25.2 mm ± 16.2, MT 18.8 mm ± 13.3, EV 36.9 mm ± 21.0, PU 22.7 mm ± 15.1, and FR 50.4 min ± 25.5. Age-specific comparisons indicated for 10 to 14 year-olds MT, PU, and TR were not significantly different from P-MVPA; for the younger children (5-8 year- olds) P-MVPA consistently underestimated MVPA. Conclusions: Pedometer-determined MVPA provided comparable estimates of MVPA for older children (10-14 year-olds). Additional work is required to establish age appropriate SPM thresholds for younger children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siedentop and Locke (1997) proposed three critical elements that must exist in our profession to make a difference and achieve systemic success in physical education (SSPE): (a) quality PE in the schools, (b) effective physical education teacher education (PETE) programs, and (c) a working relationship between the two. Using Cuban's (1992) curriculum change and stability framework, this qualitative study examines the existence of a program that has achieved all three elements in the southwestern US. For over three decades some seventy-two teachers in dozens of schools have yearly served over 40,000 children. This study revealed a fully functioning model consisting of four key, interdependent components driven by a system of accountability measures. The results of the SSPE model-quality PE for children-is achieved by (a) district-wide mandated curriculum, methodologies and language, (b) well-defined district PE coordinator roles, (c) a partnership university, and (d) frequent, ongoing professional development. Results of this study strengthen Siedentop and Locke's (1997) recommendation for collaborative efforts between universities and partner school districts and provide a model to guide and manage the curriculum change process in K-6 PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of this study was to cross-validate international BMI-referenced steps/d cut points for US girls (12,000 steps/d) and boys (15,000 steps/d) 6 to 12 years of age. Methods: Secondary pedometer-determined physical activity data from US children (N = 1067; 633 girls and 434 boys, 6 to 12 years) were analyzed. Using international BMI classifications, cross-validation of the 12,000 and 15,000 steps/d cut points was examined by the classification precision, sensitivity, and specificity for each age-sex stratum. Results: For girls (boys) 6 to 12 years, the 12,000 (15,000) steps/d cut points correctly classified 42% to 60% (38% to 67%) as meeting (achieved steps/d cut point and healthy weight) and failing (did not achieve steps/d cut point and overweight). Sensitivity ranged from 55% to 85% (64% to 100%); specificity ranged from 23% to 62% (19% to 50%). Conclusion: The utility of pedometer steps/d cut points was minimal in this sample given their inability to differentiate among children who failed to achieve the recommended steps/d and exhibited an unhealthy weight. Caution, therefore, should be used in applying previous steps/d cut points to US children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined associations of demographic/biological, psychological, social, and environmental variables with two different measures (self-reported and accelerometer) of physical activity (PA) in Mexican-American (56 boys; 64 girls) and European-American (49 boys; 45 girls) children (mean age = 12.1 years). Among 32 potential correlates, 4 gender and 16 ethnic differences were found. Percent of variance explained from 3% to 24% for self-reported PA and from 7% to 16% for accelerometer-measured PA. Physical self-perception was the only variable with a significant association across all subgroups and both measures. Less favorable levels of psychosocial variables among Mexican-Americans may explain ethnic differences in PA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedometers are quickly becoming a common and valuable tool for physical educators. These small devices offer a valid, reliable, and feasible method to assess children's step counts. Pedometers also provide teachers and students with immediate, concrete feedback about their physical activity levels. There are three primary uses of pedometers for physical educators: (a) to teach about physical activity, (b) to enhance instruction, and (c) to provide accountability. This article takes a closer look at these areas and provides teachers with many practical ideas for using pedometers in physical education.

The article sheds light on the promotion of physical education. Motivating students to lead active lifestyles is advocated because of the numerous health benefits derived from physical activity. Physical educators use many strategies to motivate children to be active; however, the importance of social support is often overlooked. Involving family members, teachers, peers, and administrators in physical activity programs may help children adopt active lifestyles. There are numerous benefits of hosting a physical education night for families, teachers, and administrators. One benefit is exposing adult participants to the components of a quality physical education program.

The article focuses on a study that assesses the physical activity (PA) and the differences between steps of children both during school and out-of-school during fall and winter. It states that the MLS 2505 pedometer was used to examine the steps of 112 students from one elementary school in the southeastern U.S. Results show that students' PA levels remain steady during fall and winter while out-of-school PA levels are higher in fall.