Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity in Primary School Children: Inactive Lessons Are Dominated by Maths and English

Andy Daly-Smith, Matthew Hobbs, Jade L. Morris, Margaret A. Defeyter, Geir K. Resaland and Jim McKenna
Additional contact information
Andy Daly-Smith: Faculty of Health Studies, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7 1DP, UK
Matthew Hobbs: School of Health Sciences, College of Education, Health and Human Development, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, Canterbury 8041, New Zealand
Jade L. Morris: Centre for Society and Mental Health, Department of Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, London WC2B 6LE, UK
Margaret A. Defeyter: Healthy Living Lab, Faculty of Health & Life Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE 7 7XA, UK
Geir K. Resaland: Center for Physically Active Learning, Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, 6856 Sogndal, Norway
Jim McKenna: School of Sport, Carnegie, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds LS6 3QT, UK

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-14

Abstract: Background: A large majority of primary school pupils fail to achieve 30-min of daily, in-school moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The aim of this study was to investigate MVPA accumulation and subject frequency during academic lesson segments and the broader segmented school day. Methods: 122 children (42.6% boys; 9.9 ± 0.3 years) from six primary schools in North East England, wore uniaxial accelerometers for eight consecutive days. Subject frequency was assessed by teacher diaries. Multilevel models (children nested within schools) examined significant predictors of MVPA across each school-day segment (lesson one, break, lesson two, lunch, lesson three). Results: Pupils averaged 18.33 ± 8.34 min of in-school MVPA, and 90.2% failed to achieve the in-school 30-min MVPA threshold. Across all school-day segments, MVPA accumulation was typically influenced at the individual level. Lessons one and two—dominated by maths and English—were less active than lesson three. Break and lunch were the most active segments. Conclusion: This study breaks new ground, revealing that MVPA accumulation and subject frequency varies greatly during different academic lessons. Morning lessons were dominated by the inactive delivery of maths and English, whereas afternoon lessons involved a greater array of subject delivery that resulted in marginally higher levels of MVPA.

Keywords: academic lessons; moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; whole-school; physical activity; physically active learning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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