Intra- and Inter-Day Variability in Recess Physical Activity Over One Week in Young Children

Authors

Katherine L. McKee, Utah State UniversityFollow
Kimberly A. Clevenger, Utah State UniversityFollow

Abstract

Researchers interested in outdoor free play (i.e., recess) may collect data on total (light-to-vigorous) physical activity (TPA) during a single recess period or over several days, yet little is known about intra- and inter-day variability or whether individual recess periods or days are representative of “typical” recess TPA. PURPOSE: The purpose of the current study was to explore variability in TPA across a week of recess periods with the overarching goal of identifying how many recess periods may be needed to represent weekly recess TPA. METHODS: Children (n=29; age=2-6 y) from two on-campus early childhood education programs which shared a schoolyard wore a triaxial GENEActiv accelerometer at the right hip during school hours for a week. Euclidean norm minus one per 5-sec was calculated and used to estimate percent of recess time spent in TPA. A mixed effects model compared TPA by day and recess time of day (fixed effects) with child as a random effect. We averaged TPA for each of the 13 individual recesses, scheduled recess time (morning, afternoon, end of day), and day (Monday-Friday). T-tests were used to compare TPA during individual recess periods, scheduled recess times, and days to overall average weekly recess TPA. P-values were adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni correction.RESULTS: Overall weekly recess TPA was 62.3±9.7%. TPA ranged from 47.3-82.5% across the 13 individual recess periods, 56.0-63.1% across scheduled recess times, and 54.0-69.2% across days. In the mixed effects model, there was a significant effect of day, but not scheduled recess time. Post-hoc comparisons indicated Friday TPA was different from Monday (p=0.006), Tuesday (pCONCLUSIONS: Although an individual recess period is insufficient, capturing recess PA over a single day or a single time of day (e.g., morning recess for a week) is representative of weekly recess TPA at the group level, although TPA may vary by day for individuals. This could be a less burdensome and more efficient method of characterizing recess TPA when informing and assessing interventions.

Recommended Citation

McKee, Katherine L. and Clevenger, Kimberly A. (2023) "Intra- and Inter-Day Variability in Recess Physical Activity Over One Week in Young Children," International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings: Vol. 14: Iss. 3, Article 73.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/ijesab/vol14/iss3/73