Elementary school physical activity opportunities and physical fitness of students: A statewide cross-sectional study of schools.

BACKGROUND: Using a cross-sectional design, we assessed the relationship between the time schools provide for physical activity and the proportion of students achieving a healthy aerobic capacity or body mass index. METHODS: In 2013-2014, physical education and grade-level teachers from 905 of 1,244 Georgia elementary schools provided survey data about the frequency and duration of physical activity opportunities offered before, during, and after school. Log-binomial models related the weekly physical activity minutes provided by schools to the proportion of children in the FitnessGram healthy fitness zone for aerobic capacity or body mass index while adjusting for school characteristics and demographics. RESULTS: During-school physical activity time was not associated with student fitness, but schools with before-school physical activity programs had a moderately higher prevalence of healthy aerobic capacity (prevalence ratio among girls: 1.06; 99% confidence interval: 1.00-1.13; prevalence ratio among boys: 1.03; 99% confidence interval: 0.99-1.08). Each additional 30 minutes of recess per week was associated with no more than a 3%-higher proportion of students with healthy body mass indexes (prevalence ratio among girls: 1.01; 99% confidence interval: 1.00-1.03; prevalence ratio among boys: 1.01; 99% confidence interval: 0.99-1.03). CONCLUSIONS: The amount of physical activity time provided by schools is not strongly associated with school-aggregated student fitness. Future studies should be designed to assess the importance of school-based physical activity time on student fitness, relative to physical activity type and quality.

Impact of a Georgia elementary school-based intervention on physical activity opportunities: A quasi-experimental study.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the impact of Power Up for 30, a flexible, Comprehensive School Physical Activity Program-based state-wide elementary school initiative, on school physical activity opportunities (physical education, recess, in-class physical activity, before-school physical activity, and after-school physical activity) one year after Power Up for 30 training. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental. METHODS: In 2013, all 1333 public Georgia elementary schools were invited to complete the School Physical Activity Survey which assessed school physical activity opportunities. Upon survey completion, schools were invited to attend training. Of the 719 (54%) schools meeting survey response criteria, 300 schools attended training by 9/2014 and 419 schools did not. Between 3/2015-5/2015, 79 trained and 80 untrained schools were randomly selected to receive a follow-up survey assessing the frequency and duration of physical activity opportunities. Analyses, adjusted for baseline physical activity opportunities and school characteristics, compared weekly minutes of physical activity opportunities at follow-up between trained and untrained schools. RESULTS: In adjusted analyses at follow-up, trained schools provided 36 more minutes of weekly physical activity opportunities than untrained schools (99% confidence interval: 16-56), particularly during recess (mean difference: 8min per week; 99% confidence interval: 0-17), during in-class breaks (mean difference: 11min per week, 99% confidence interval: 3-20), and before school (mean difference: 8min per week, 99% confidence interval: 4-12). CONCLUSIONS: Flexible, multi-component interventions like Power Up for 30 increase physical activity opportunities. If future studies identify that school physical activity opportunities positively impact student physical activity, this model may be a feasible strategy for broad-scale implementation.

Socioeconomic and Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Physical Activity Environments in Georgia Elementary Schools.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to characterize physical activity (PA) environments in Georgia public elementary schools and to identify socioeconomic status (SES) and racial/ethnic disparities in PA environments. DESIGN: A school setting PA survey was launched in 2013 to 2014 as a cross-sectional online survey assessing PA environment factors, including facility access and school PA practices, staff PA opportunities, parental involvement in school PA, and out-of-school PA opportunities. SETTING: All 1333 Georgia public elementary schools were recruited. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 1083 schools (81.2%) responded. Survey respondents included school administrators, physical education (PE) teachers, and grade-level chairs. MEASURES: Physical activity environment factors were assessed via an online questionnaire adapted from school PA surveys and articles. ANALYSIS: The chi-square and Fisher exact analyses were conducted to examine the reporting of PA environment factors overall and by school SES, as measured by free/reduced lunch rate, and/or racial/ethnic composition. RESULTS: Overall, many PA environment factors were widely prevalent (ie, gym [99%] or field [79%] access), although some factors such as some PA-related programs (ie, a structured walk/bike program [11%]) were less widely reported. Disparities in school PA environment factors were largely patterned by SES, though they varied for some factors by racial/ethnic composition and across SES within racial/ethnic composition categories. For example, lower SES schools were less likely to report access to blacktops and tracks ( p-value < .0001), and higher SES schools were less likely to report access to playgrounds ( p-value = .0076). Lower SES schools were also less likely to report "always/often" giving access to PE/PA equipment during recess ( p-value < .01). Lower SES and majority nonwhite schools were less likely to report having joint use agreements with community agencies ( p-value < .0001). CONCLUSION: This study highlights SES and racial/ethnic disparities in PA environments in Georgia public elementary schools.

Bridging Public Health and Education: Results of a School-Based Physical Activity Program to Increase Student Fitness.

OBJECTIVE: Power Up for 30 (PU30) is a schoolwide intervention that encourages schools to provide an additional 30 minutes of physical activity during the school day, beyond physical education. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of PU30 on Georgia public elementary schools and their students. METHODS: A total of 719 of 1320 public elementary schools in Georgia that were sent a baseline survey about school physical activity during October 2013 to September 2014 completed the survey, 160 of which were asked to complete a second survey. In the interim (March to June 2015), half (80) of these schools implemented the PU30 program. The interim surveys, which were completed during March to June 2015, assessed opportunities for student physical activity and staff member professional development focused on student physical activity. RESULTS: Compared with schools that had not implemented the program, more schools using the PU30 program reported offering before- and after-school physical activity programs. Forty-four of 78 (57%) PU30 schools compared with 20 of 53 (38%) non-PU30 schools offered before-school physical activity programs. Likewise, more PU30 schools than non-PU30 schools offered after-school physical activity programs (35% vs 16%), and a greater proportion of students at PU30 schools compared with non-PU30 schools met fitness benchmarks: recess 5 days per week (91% [288 of 323] vs 80% [273 of 341]), offering ≥11 minutes per day of classroom-based physical activity (39% [53 of 136] vs 25% [47 of 189] for kindergarten through second grade; 20% [37 of 187] vs 6% [9 of 152] for grades 3 through 5), and receiving physical activity-related professional development time (42% [136 of 323] vs 14% [48 of 341]). CONCLUSIONS: The surveys provided a statewide picture of the physical activity opportunities offered to students and staff members in Georgia elementary schools and demonstrated the effective use of a comprehensive, multicomponent program to offer more school-based physical activity opportunities and to improve student fitness.