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Initiative increases physical activity intensity in after-school programs
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A goal-based physical activity initiative increased the intensity level of exercise activity in after-school programs without increasing the amount of activity time allocated by the programs, according to recent research in JAMA Pediatrics.
“We tested whether an organizational change, collaborative learning approach can be implemented in various school and community-based after-school programs,” Angie L. Cradock, ScD, senior research scientist for the department of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote. “Although programs participating in the [Out of School Nutrition and Physical Activity (OSNAP)] Initiative did not allot significantly more time for physical activity, they successfully made existing time more vigorously active for children receiving the intervention.”
The researchers utilized the OSNAP Initiative, a program that challenged existing after-school programs to include 30 minutes of moderate physical activity for students every day and 20 minutes of intense physical activity three times per week. To test the impact of OSNAP, the researchers randomly assigned 10 after-school programs to the intervention group and 10 programs to the control group. Intervention group teams attended learning collaborative sessions, where they reviewed physical activity reports from their programs and received training on how to improve their program’s physical activity rates. Participants included 402 children aged 5 to 12 years attending after-school programs in the Boston area. Accelerometer data were collected at week 1 and at the end of the study period.
Study results showed that during the 6 month intervention period, there was no change in the amount of time spent on physical activity reported between study groups. The amount of moderate physical activity reported by both groups also was similar; however, the adjusted change in total minutes per day of vigorous activity (3.2; 95% CI, 1.8-4.7), adjusted change in total vigorous activity minutes in bouts (4.1; 95% CI, 2.7-5.6) and adjusted change in total accelerometer counts per day (16,894, 95% CI, 5,101-28,686) were significantly greater among the intervention group programs.
“Many U.S. children participate in after-school programs,” Cradock and colleagues wrote. “The physical activity improvements that are possible using the OSNAP Initiative and similar training strategies focused on after-school organizational quality improvement could have a broad reach.” – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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