Examining the Impact of 45 Minutes of Daily Physical Education on Cognitive Ability, Fitness Performance, and Body Composition of African American Youth

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian A. Reed ◽  
Andrea L. Maslow ◽  
Savannah Long ◽  
Morgan Hughey

Object:Increased importance on academic achievement has resulted in many school districts focusing on improved academic performance leading to reductions in physical education time. The purpose was to examine the effects of 45 minutes of daily physical education on the cognitive ability, fitness performance and body composition of African American elementary and middle school youth.Methods:Participants completing the informed consent in grades 2nd to 8th were included in the study. A pre/posttest design was used with repeated measures analysis of variance. Experimental and control school participants were pretested on the cognitive measures (ie, Fluid Intelligence and Perceptual Speed) and FitnessgramR physical fitness test items (eg, aerobic capacity, muscular strength and muscular endurance, body composition) in September 2009 and posttested in May 2010.Results:Experimental elementary and middle school participants observed significantly greater improvements compared with control elementary and middle school participants on 7 of 16 fitness and body composition measures and on 8 of 26 cognitive measures. These fitness, body composition, and cognitive improvement differences were more noticeable among elementary and middle school females.Conclusions:Providing 45 minutes of daily physical education can perhaps increase cognitive ability while increasing fitness and decreasing the prevalence of overweight and obese youth.

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 264-264
Author(s):  
Melissa Pflugh Prescott ◽  
Xanna Burg ◽  
Jesscia Jarick Metcalfe ◽  
Brenna Ellison

Abstract Objectives Health advocates recommend 20 minutes of seated lunch time. Yet, no federal policy ensures adequate time for school lunch across the US. The objective of this study is to assess the impact of meeting the 20-minute seated lunch time recommendation on child food consumption and waste. Methods Using a crossover design, seated lunch time was randomly assigned each day to be either 10 or 20 minutes. Menus conformed to the National School Lunch Program nutrition standards and were matched to short and long lunch days to control for menu. Elementary and middle school-aged students attending a university summer camp participated in the study. Children could enroll in 1 to 4 weeks of the camp and had varying lengths of participation in the study. Researchers weighed individual child meals to assess consumption and waste. Mixed models assessed the differences in food consumption and waste between students with greater or less than 20 minutes of seated lunch time, accounting for repeated measures and menus. Results A total of 38 students participated (mean: 10.9 years old, 60.5% female) and attended 6.3 study days on average. Students with less than 20 minutes of seated lunch time consumed on average 8.4% less (P = 0.010) of their selected fruit and 11.5% (P = 0.006) less of their selected vegetable compared to students with at least 20 minutes. For each additional minute of seated lunch time, student consumption of fruit increased on average 0.9% (P = 0.003) while vegetable consumption increased on average 1.3% (P = 0.001). Student consumption of entree items and milk did not significantly differ across short and long lunches. Conclusions These findings suggest that shorter lunch periods differentially impact rates of child fruit and vegetable consumption, as compared to entree and beverage consumption. These results also support policies requiring 20 minutes of seated lunch time to improve child diet quality and reduce food waste. Funding Sources This research was funded from a United States Department of Agriculture HATCH award.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-102
Author(s):  
Zsolt Szakály ◽  
Ferenc Ihász ◽  
Csaba Konczos ◽  
Balázs Fügedi ◽  
József Bognár

SummaryStudy aim: Over the last two decades, the body fat mass has been increasing and the level of physical fitness has been decreasing in school-aged children. Due to the health-related concerns that have arisen regarding school-aged children, the Hungarian government introduced everyday physical education in 2012. Since girls are more disposed to higher body fat and low fitness levels, the aim of our study was to characterise the physique, body composition and aerobic capacity of 10 to 14-year-old girls three years after the introduction of the new curriculum with daily PE lessons. Material and methods: All of the primary schools that were selected to participate in this study serve as partnership schools in the University of West Hungary’s teacher training programme (N = 8). The sample included only those upper primary school girls (10 to 14 years of age) who participated in the everyday physical education lesson (N = 543). Standard anthropometric techniques and a 20m shuttle run test were selected for the analysis. Results: An important result of this study was the finding that differences in the body composition features were consistently significant among the age groups. However, there were no differences among the age groups in the results of the 20 m multi-stage fitness test, nor in the girls’ relative aerobic capacity. Conclusions: It can be presumed that an unfavourable body composition and poor fitness occur primarily in the prepuberty years. Everyday physical education serves as a good opportunity for shaping the girls’ fitness level and body composition, and also for encouraging healthy active living.


Author(s):  
Agnieszka Koszałka-Silska ◽  
Agata Korcz ◽  
Agata Wiza

The objective of this study is to analyse the impact of physical education based on the adventure education programme on the social competences of adolescent boys. The participants (n = 70) were 1st grade high school students between 15 and 16 years old. Adolescents’ social competences were measured using the Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and Social Competence Questionnaire (SCQ) before and after the intervention. An experimental repeated-measures design was used, with a comparison group. ANOVA (2 × 2) for interaction group x time showed statistical significance in competences revealed in situations of social exposure (F1, 68 = 5.16, p < 0.05, partial η2 = 0.07) and competences revealed in situations requiring assertiveness (F1, 68 = 4.73, p < 0.05, partial η2 = 0.07). Using the adventure education (AE) programme may be recommended as a way of developing social skill competences revealed in situations of social exposure and competences revealed in situations requiring the assertiveness of adolescents through physical activity that can be easily integrated into the school environment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 992-998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zan Gao ◽  
Ping Xiang

Background:Exergaming has been considered a fun solution to promoting a physically active lifestyle. This study examined the impact of an exergaming-based program on urban children’s physical activity participation, body composition and perceptions of the program.Methods:A sample of 185 children’s physical activity was measured in August 2009 (pretest), and percent body fat was used as index of body composition. Fourth graders were assigned to intervention group engaging in 30 minutes exergaming-based activities 3 times per week, while third and fifth graders were in comparison group. Measurements were repeated 9 months later (posttest). Interviews were conducted among 12 intervention children.Results:ANCOVA with repeated measures revealed a significant main effect for intervention, F(1, 179) = 10.69, P < .01. Specifically, intervention children had significantly greater increased physical activity levels than comparison children. Logistic regression for body composition indicated intervention children did not differ significantly in percent body fat change from comparison children, Chi square = 5.42, P = .14. Children interviewed reported positive attitudes toward the intervention.Conclusions:The implementation of exergaming-based program could have a significantly positive effect on children’s physical activity participation and attitudes. Meanwhile, long-term effect of the program on children’s body composition deserves further investigation.


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