Background

Bridging Public Health and Education: Results of a School-Based Physical Activity Program to Increase Student Fitness

• Child obesity has nearly tripled from 6% to 17% in the United States from 1980 to 2012.
• "...an inverse relationship exists between physical activity (and physical fitness) and all-cause mortality...morbidity related to coronary heart disease, stroke, cardiovascular disease, and cancer"

Objective: Evaluate the impact of Power Up for 30 (PU30) on public elementary schools in Georgia.

• Survey of 719 of 1320 public elementary schools in Georgia were surveyed. Those surveyed included administrators, physical education teachers, and a classroom teacher between kindergarten through grade five.
• More schools using the PU30 program reported offering more before and after school physical activity programs.
• The PU30 program was associated with more schools offering before and after school physical activity programs, more teachers offering recess 5 days per week, more teachers offering classroom time for physical activity, and more students meeting health-related fitness benefits.

Raising an Active and Healthy Generation: A Comprehensive Public Health Initiative

• Promotion of physical activity in children and youth is a major public health challenge in the 21st century.

Background:

• School aged children and adolescents should engage in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity for at least 1 hour a day.
• Physical activity promotion initiative must change behaviors of individual children.
• Social cognitive theory - the child's behavior is influenced by personal characteristics, environmental factors, and societal factors.

Individual Children:

• More physically active children tend to enjoy physical activities.
• Need for more research on physical activity interventions that target individual children.
  • One thought has been to focus on annual well-child visits with a physician but there currently are many barriers.

Environment:

• Family and home setting has a powerful influence over physical activity behaviors.
  • Family-based goal setting and reinforcement.
  • Focus on outcomes other than health benefits or weight loss.
  • Tailor the content to the ethnicity of the family.
• School settings have provided the largest body of knowledge on promoting physical activity in youth.
  • Enhanced physical education - actually have students get the 1 hour of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity.
  • Provide teachers with professional development to improve instruction methods and add in physical activity in the classroom.
• Community settings can provide opportunities for increased physical activity.
  • After school and summer programs, like the YMCA.
  • Youth sport programs provide opportunities but there is a high drop out rate that needs to be addressed.
  • Creating equity in the built environment. Lower socioeconomic status communities and minority communities had lower rates of physical activity facilities being present.

Societal:

• Stand alone mass media campaigns have shown modest and inconsistent effects on self-reported physical activity.
• Media campaigns should potentially be on the national level if a positive influence is warranted.
• National and state policies are most effective when the policy is enforced rigorously.
  • Title IX and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are two examples of policies and legislation that have extremely influenced the United States and how it is today.