TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2006//
TI  - An integrated curriculum approach to increasing habitual physical activity in children: a feasibility study
JO  - Journal of school health
A1  - Oliver, Melody
A1  - Schofield, Grant M.
A1  - McEvoy, Erin
SP  - 74
EP  - 79
VL  - 76
IS  - 2
N2  - A relatively new concept is that of "integrating" physical activity throughout the school curriculum, thereby teaching children about lifestyle physical activity in a variety of contexts. One method by which this may be achieved is by utilizing pedometers as a motivational and educational tool for measuring accumulated physical activity. No research is available that shows in-depth integration of physical activity into the curriculum or that investigates the efficacy of pedometer use for this purpose. The purposes of this study were to (1) design and implement a 4-week elementary school curriculum unit, based around pedometer walking and (2) quantify, using pedometry, the physical activity levels of children (N = 78) prior to, and during, the unit implementation. Results showed that more than one half of the participants were achieving >15,000 steps daily, and children were significantly more active on weekdays than weekends (p = .0001). Boys were more active than girls at baseline (p = .01) and during intervention weekdays (p = .03). Differences between baseline and intervention weekdays were nonsignificant for the complete sample; however, significant increases in step counts were observed when the children with low activity levels, especially females, were examined separately. Overall, the integration of physical activity using pedometer-based activities is feasible. However, any increases in activity may be restricted to children who are least active.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0022-4391
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1746-1561.2006.00071.x
ID  - ref1
ER  -