rss
Br J Sports Med doi:10.1136/bjsm.2007.042036

An active school model to promote physical activity in elementary schools: Action Schools! BC

  1. Patti-Jean Naylor (pjnaylor{at}uvic.ca)
  1. University of Victoria, Canada
    1. Heather M Macdonald (hmacdona{at}interchange.ubc.ca)
    1. University of British Columbia, Canada
      1. Darren E. R. Warburton (darren.warburton{at}ubc.ca)
      1. University of British Columbia, Canada
        1. Katherine E Reed (kt_cat{at}hotmail.com)
        1. University of British Columbia, Canada
          1. Heather A McKay (mckayh{at}interchange.ubc.ca)
          1. University of British Columbia, Canada
            • Published Online First 13 February 2008

            Abstract

            Objective: To assess the impact of an active school model on children’s physical activity (PA).

            Design: Sixteen-month cluster randomized controlled trial.

            Setting: Ten elementary schools in Greater Vancouver.

            Participants: 515 children aged 9 to 11 years.

            Intervention: Action Schools! BC (AS! BC) is an active school model that provided schools with training and resources to increase children’s PA. Schools implemented AS! BC with support from either external liaisons (Liaison Schools, LS; 4 schools) or internal champions (Champion Schools, CS; 3 schools). Outcomes were compared with usual practice (UP) schools (3 schools).

            Main Outcome Measurements: PA was measured 4 times during the study using pedometers (step count, steps/day).

            Results: Boys in the LS group took 1175 more steps per day, on average, than boys in the UP group (95% CI: 97, 2253). Boys in the CS group also tended to have a higher step count than boys in the UP group (+804 steps/day; 95% CI: -341, 1949). There was no difference in girls’ step counts across groups.

            Conclusions: The positive effect of the AS! BC model on boys’ PA is important in light of the current global trend of decreased PA.

            This Article

            1. Abstract
            2. PDF
            3. All versions of this article:
              1. bjsm.2007.042036v1
              2. 42/5/338most recent

            Responses

            1. Submit a response
            2. No responses published

            Register for free content

            The full back archive is now available for all BMJ Journals. Institutional subscribers may access the entire archive as part of their subscription. Personal subscribers will also have access to all content when logged in. Non-subscribers who register have free access to all articles published before 2006 right back to volume 1 issue 1. Register here to access the free archive of all BMJ Journals.

            Don't forget to sign up for content alerts so you keep up to date with all the articles as they are published.