Comparing Physical Activity Behavior of Children During School Between Balanced and Traditional School Day Schedules

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Some Canadian schools have modified their daily schedules from the traditional school day (TSD) schedule (two 15-minute breaks and one 60-minute break) to a balanced school day (BSD) schedule (two 40-minute breaks). While this change increases daily planning and instructional time, it also changes the amount of time available for moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). METHODS:This study uses a case-control design to examine differences in objectively measured MVPA between children in 3 schools using a BSD schedule and 3 schools using a TSD schedule. Study participants (aged 10-12 years) were recruited from schools in Ontario, Canada. RESULTS:Regardless of schedule type, girls had lower MVPA than boys, and as both boys and girls got older their MVPA significantly decreased. The findings indicate there was no statistically significant difference in the total minutes of in-school MVPA between children from BSD schools and children from TSD schools. MVPA was significantly higher for older girls attending BSD schools than older girls attending TSD schools, suggesting that implementing a BSD may help curb declining MVPA as girls enter adolescence. CONCLUSION:Despite encouraging findings, more rigorous studies (ie, pre-post experiments with control) are needed to better understand how changing schedules impacts children's health.Citation: Clark AF, Wilk P, Gilliland JA. Comparing physical activity behavior of children during school between balanced and traditional school day schedules.

Levels of Physical Activity during School Hours in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

“…Less than a quarter of children and adolescents reach 30 min of MVPA during school hours, and this result is especially worrisome in adolescents and girls. However, many selected studies developed in primary schools (that did not show data on compliance with this recommendation) showed a mean MVPA during school hours higher than 30 min [24,26,28,37,41,42,44,45]. This might indicate that the situation in primary school is not so worrisome, but this is not the case for studies developed in secondary schools.…”

“…The number of school hours in the selected studies ranged in primary school from 240 min [22,26] to 480 min [11,24,34], with the most typical primary school time being approximately 360-390 min. In secondary school, the number of school hours ranged from 300 min [26] to 540 min [21] and in most cases was approximately 360 min.…”

Measuring Temporal Differences in Rural Canadian Children’s Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity

“…Finally, at the child-level, based on the school schedule, children were categorised as attending a balanced or traditional school [37]. A balanced school day (BSD) has three academic periods (about 100 min in length) separated by two breaks (about 40 to 45 min).…”

The tween years: A systematic literature review for services for children aged 10–13 years

“…Pre-adolescence is also a period where children are at increased risk of becoming obese (Fradkin et al, 2018). Moreover, tween children are at increased risk of being peer pressured to school grade performance (Poddar, 2020); sexual encounters (Milevsky, 2015); may develop playground aggression (Clark et al, 2019); and maybe moved into out-of-home care as a result of neglect (McFarlane, 2018). Additional complexities are those related to peer rejection, risk-taking tendencies, shame, trait flexibility, perfectionism, changes in sleep duration, body image ideation, guilt, and social anxiety (Nader, 2019).…”