Understanding children’s physical activity (PA) patterns and the factors that may influence PA are important for developing interventions within this population. One hundred and ten children aged 9–10 years from 8 schools had their PA patterns assessed over 7 days. Physiological and self-report data were also collected. Multilevel analyses revealed that cardiorespiratory fitness was a consistent, significant and positive predictor of weekday and weekend PA, while the availability of home sedentary activities was a significant but negative predictor of PA. Since a range of variables were associated with PA levels, intervention developers should be cognizant of variables that may influence children’s activity.
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Examining Influences on Boy’s and Girls’ Physical Activity Patterns: The A-CLASS Project
Nicola D. Ridgers, Lee E.F. Graves, Lawrence Foweather, and Gareth Stratton
The Effect of Structured Exercise Classes and a Lifestyle Intervention on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Primary Schoolchildren: An Exploratory Trial (The A-CLASS Project)
Jayne Henaghan, Nicola McWhannell, Lawrence Foweather, N. Tim Cable, Alan M. Batterham, Gareth Stratton, and Keith P. George
This exploratory trial evaluates the effect of a structured exercise (STEX) or lifestyle intervention (PASS) program upon cardiovascular (CV) disease risk factors in children. Sixty-one schoolchildren were randomly assigned by school to an intervention or control (CON) condition. The effect of the STEX (compared with CON) was a mean benefit of −0.018 mm for average maximum carotid intimamedia thickness. The PASS intervention did not result in clinically important effects, and no other substantial changes were observed. Relatively high probability of clinically beneficial effects of the STEX intervention suggests that a larger, definitive randomized trial with longer follow-up is warranted.
