Citation

Lorenz KA, van der Mars H, Kulinna PH, Ainsworth BE, Hovell MF. J. Phys. Act. Health 2017; 14(10): 785-792.

Affiliation

Center for Behavioral Epidemiology and Community Health, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

10.1123/jpah.2016-0709

PMID

28556684

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Increasing access and opportunity for physical activity (PA) in schools are effective; however, not everyone experiences the same effects. Prompting and reinforcement may encourage more frequent participation in recreational PA during the school day. The purpose of this study was to investigate a lunchtime PA intervention on whole-school PA participation, and if behavioral support enhanced these effects.

METHODS: A modified reversal design compared an environmental and an environmental plus behavioral support intervention on lunchtime PA participation versus baseline levels in a suburban junior high school in the western US (N = 1452). PA and related contextual data were collected using systematic observation.

RESULTS: Significantly more girls and boys were observed in PA during the interventions compared to baseline phases (F(2, 1173) = 13.52, p < 0.0001, η (2) = 0.023; F(2, 1173) = 20.14, p < 0.0001, η(2) = 0.033, for girls and boys respectively). There were no significant differences between the environmental phase and the environment plus behavioral support phase.

CONCLUSION: Providing access and opportunity significantly increased the number of girls and boys observed in PA during a lunchtime program, with no additive effects of behavioral support. Further research into providing individual-level contingencies at an institutional level is needed.

Language: en

Keywords

behavioral science; gender; intervention study; recreation