The Association between Health-Related Fitness and Physical Activity during Weekdays: Do Fit Students Exercise More after School?

Dehong Yang, Xihe Zhu, Justin A. Haegele, Patrick B. Wilson and Xueping Wu
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Dehong Yang: Department of Physical Education, Shanghai Institute of Technology, Shanghai 201418, China
Xihe Zhu: Department of Human Movement Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Justin A. Haegele: Department of Human Movement Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Patrick B. Wilson: Department of Human Movement Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 23529, USA
Xueping Wu: School of Physical Education and Sport Training, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 15, 1-8

Abstract: Physically active students are more likely to be fit and learn better in school than sedentary ones. For school-aged children, it is unclear whether physical fitness level is an important determinant for student’s activity afterschool. This study examined the association between health-related physical fitness test performance and afterschool physical activity during weekdays. Participants ( n = 97, 11–13 years old) completed health-related fitness tests. They wore Actigraph GT3X accelerometers for five consecutive days, recording physical activity participation during after school hours. Descriptive statistics for both afterschool physical activity and health-related fitness were summarized. Regression analyses were conducted to determine the association between variables. Participants spent most of their afterschool hours participating in sedentary behaviors (274.27 ± 66.89 min) and light physical activity (73.68 ± 51.66 min), and only 11.35 ± 16.92 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), accumulating approximately 2058.52 ± 1690.56 steps each day afterschool. The regression model explained 22.8% of the variance in afterschool MVPA, and Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) scores were the only statistically significant predictor ( β = 0.47, p < 0.01). Fit students do tend to exercise more after school. Promoting physical fitness in school is an important factor for students’ afterschool physical activity participation during weekdays.

Keywords: adolescent; exercise promotion; cardiorespiratory endurance; health-related fitness; physical education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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