Effect of an Educational Program on Schoolchildren’s Energy Expenditure during Physical Education Classes

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Physical activity is a means of prevention of noncommunicable diseases. The level of physical activity of children is decreasing in Brazil, and this can increase the risks of diseases associated with sedentary lifestyles and obesity. METHOD: This is a school-based randomized controlled trial which evaluated the impact of an educational intervention on children's physical activity level, energy expenditure, and teacher's behavior during physical education classes at public schools in São Paulo. The studied population comprised children attending the 1 st and the 2 nd grades of eight schools (three exposed and five unexposed to teacher training on a course in nutrition and physical activity). Outcomes were measured by direct observation, recorded by a VHS camera during physical education classes; data from 78 physical education classes were analyzed by the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time -SOFIT. RESULTS: After intervention, results showed highly significant increases in children's physical activity level (walking, p < 0.001; vigorous activities (p < 0.001), and a decrease in the standing category (p < 0.001). It also showed a nonsignificant increase in mean energy expenditure of children (70.6% = 27.6Kcal), but the interaction's effect of group and time (intervention) was highly significant (32.4Kcal; 95%CI 24.7 -40.1, p < 0.001) indicating the intervention effectiveness in increasing the energy expenditure of children during Physical Education classes. It also showed an increase in length of physical education classes (26.2 to 32.1 minutes (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION: There was a change in teachers' behavior with a positive impact on children's physical activity level and energy expenditure after the educational intervention.

The practice of dance as extracurricular activity is related to higher motivation and physical activity level in students

“…Physical education at school encompasses motor, cognitive, affective and social development of children and adolescents (Cunha, Poblacion, Colugnati, Taddei & Bracco, 2016). The current study found significant social selfconcept results in students belonging to the PE group.…”

“…All self-concept subscales (personal, school, family and social) showed higher frequency of moderate or high scores in both herein analyzed groups. Accordingly, Cunha et al (2016) pointed out that 7-11-year-old students had very good perception about themselves, since they presented high scores on personal, school, family and social self-concept. In light of the present study, and of the study conducted by Cunha et al (2016), it is possible assuming that students belonging to the age group 7-11 years show good self-perception, as well as that the aging factor has negative influence on self-concept perception (Serassuel Junior, Cavazzotto, Paludo, Zambrin & Simões, 2015).…”

“…Accordingly, Cunha et al (2016) pointed out that 7-11-year-old students had very good perception about themselves, since they presented high scores on personal, school, family and social self-concept. In light of the present study, and of the study conducted by Cunha et al (2016), it is possible assuming that students belonging to the age group 7-11 years show good self-perception, as well as that the aging factor has negative influence on self-concept perception (Serassuel Junior, Cavazzotto, Paludo, Zambrin & Simões, 2015). Therefore, it is possible stating that dance practicing may have the strongest influence on the self-concept of students belonging to groups composed of older children, since there is evidence in the literature that dance practicing improves this variable (Draugelis, Martin, Garn, 2014;Ferreira, Vilella, & Carvalho, 2010).…”

Evaluación por acelerometría del ejercicio realizado por escolares chilenos durante una clase de educación física y su relación con el estado ponderal (Accelerometer–based assessment of exercise in Chilean schoolchildren during a physical education class

“…Previamente, da Cunha et al ( 2016) evidenció un mayor gasto energético en escolares cuyos profesores fueron intervenidos con educación teórico-práctica sobre actividad física (estrategias para mantener el movimiento durante la CEF) y nutrición orientados a la salud infantil, respecto al grupo de profesores no intervenidos (2.54 kcal/min contra vs 1.81 kcal/min, respectivamente) (da Cunha et al, 2016). En nuestro estudio, los grupos NP, SP y OB obtuvieron promedios de 1.36 kcal/min, 1.21 kcal/min y 1.25 kcal/min respectivamente, demostrando el bajo gasto energético conseguido durante la CEF.…”

“…Sin embargo, algunos estudios han demostrado tiempos inefectivos de AFMV (Retamal-Valderrama, Delgado Floody, Espinoza-Silva, & Jerez-Mayorga, 2018) y limitado gasto energético (da Cunha, Poblacion, Basile, de Aguiar Carrazedo, & Maia, 2016) durante las CEF. Esto último, fue mayormente observado en niños que poseen valores elevados de IMC (da Cunha et al, 2016;Retamal-Valderrama et al, 2018). Lamentablemente, en la mayoría de estos estudios, la medición de la AFMV fue llevada a cabo con herramientas que tienen algún grado de subjetividad, ya que reúnen información desde la observación directa o cuestionarios.…”