Sofiya Alhassan1, John R Sirard, Thomas N Robinson. 1. Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine and Division of General Pediatrics, University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5705, USA. sofiya.alhassan@stanford.edu
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: A randomized controlled pilot study to test the hypothesis that increasing preschool children'soutdoor free play time increases their daily physical activity levels. METHODS:Physical activity was assessed by accelerometers for four consecutive school days in thirty-two Latino children (3.6+/-0.5 years) attending a preschool for low-income families. After two days of baseline physical activity assessment, participants were randomly assigned to an intervention (RECESS; n =17) or control (CON; n =15) group. The RECESS group received two additional 30-minute periods of outdoor free play time per day for two days. The CON group followed their normal classroom schedule. Between group differences in physical activity variables were tested with a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between groups in changes from baseline in average total daily (CON, 48.2+/-114.5; RECESS, 58.2+/-74.6) and during school day (CON, 64.6+/-181.9; RECESS, 59.7+/-79.1) counts per minute, or total daily (CON, 0.4+/-1.3; RECESS, 0.3+/-0.8) and during school day (CON, 0.6+/-2.1; RECESS, 0.5+/-0.8) percent of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Substantially increasing preschoolers' outdoor free play time did not increase their physical activity levels.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVE: A randomized controlled pilot study to test the hypothesis that increasing preschool children's outdoor free play time increases their daily physical activity levels. METHODS: Physical activity was assessed by accelerometers for four consecutive school days in thirty-two Latino children (3.6+/-0.5 years) attending a preschool for low-income families. After two days of baseline physical activity assessment, participants were randomly assigned to an intervention (RECESS; n =17) or control (CON; n =15) group. The RECESS group received two additional 30-minute periods of outdoor free play time per day for two days. The CON group followed their normal classroom schedule. Between group differences in physical activity variables were tested with a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences between groups in changes from baseline in average total daily (CON, 48.2+/-114.5; RECESS, 58.2+/-74.6) and during school day (CON, 64.6+/-181.9; RECESS, 59.7+/-79.1) counts per minute, or total daily (CON, 0.4+/-1.3; RECESS, 0.3+/-0.8) and during school day (CON, 0.6+/-2.1; RECESS, 0.5+/-0.8) percent of time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Substantially increasing preschoolers' outdoor free play time did not increase their physical activity levels.
Authors: Shari L Barkin; Archana P Lamichhane; Jorge A Banda; Meghan M JaKa; Maciej S Buchowski; Kelly R Evenson; Shrikant I Bangdiwala; Charlotte Pratt; Simone A French; June Stevens Journal: Am J Prev Med Date: 2017-01-09 Impact factor: 5.043
Authors: Roger Zoorob; Maciej S Buchowski; Bettina M Beech; Juan R Canedo; Rameela Chandrasekhar; Sylvie Akohoue; Pamela C Hull Journal: Contemp Clin Trials Date: 2013-04-26 Impact factor: 2.226
Authors: Kristen A Copeland; Susan N Sherman; Cassandra A Kendeigh; Brian E Saelens; Heidi J Kalkwarf Journal: Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act Date: 2009-11-06 Impact factor: 6.457