|
Cardiovascular disease outcomes A systematic review of 26 school-
based physical activity interventions documents good evidence that they
exerted positive effects on blood cholesterol (as measured in 7 studies), but
there was no evidence of effects on systolic (measured in 10 studies) and
diastolic (measured in 9 studies) blood pressure (Dobbins et al., 2009). In
the CATCH intervention, investigators observed no significant differences
in blood pressure or cholesterol measures between control and treatment
groups (Luepker et al., 1996).
Policies
Physical education policies, if adequately worded and incorporating
mechanisms for monitoring compliance, have the potential to increase
physical activity levels among school-age children across the nation. As
discussed in Chapter 5, however, only a few state policies require a specific
number of minutes of physical activity in physical education (or during
school), the language in many of these policies is not strong enough, and
monitoring for policy compliance is lacking (Carlson et al., 2013).
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
The Effectiveness of Physical Activity and Physical Education Policies and Programs
325
Examining the impact of various physical activity opportunities dur-
ing the school day on daily physical activity among youth, Bassett and
colleagues (2013, p. 110) conclude that “policies mandating daily physical
education may have the greatest impact on physical activity of U.S. youth.”
Further, a study based on a nationally representative sample of elemen-
tary schools found that schools located in states with a policy requiring
150 minutes per week of physical education were 180 percent more likely
to report having provided that many minutes per week of physical educa-
tion relative to schools in states with no policy on physical education time
(Slater et al., 2012). This study also documented a significant association
between school district–level policies related to physical education time and
a higher likelihood of schools providing 150 minutes of physical education
per week.
A commonly cited barrier to implementing physical education to the
recommended extent is lack of time during the school day. There is some
evidence for the effectiveness of unique scheduling options that can
overcome this barrier (see Chapter 5).
Conclusion
The body of evidence that has accumulated over the past two decades
documents significant effects of school-based physical activity interventions
on and associations of physical education policies with frequency and dura-
tion of physical activity, total activity, and levels of vigorous- or moderate-
intensity physical activity among children and adolescents (Luepker et
al., 1996; Nader et al., 1999; Gordon-Larsen et al., 2000; Kahn et al.,
2002; Cawley et al., 2007; Barroso et al., 2009; Dobbins et al., 2009).
Evidence concerning the associations between school-based physical activ-
ity interventions and BMI, overweight, and obesity is less clear, and these
associations merit further investigation. Evidence is generally consistent
that school-based physical activity interventions exert positive influences
on fitness levels (Kahn et al., 2002; Dobbins et al., 2009) among students
overall. However, there has been a paucity of research on the influence of
compliance with physical education policy on students’ physical fitness
levels (Sanchez-Vaznaugh et al., 2012) or whether this influence varies
across race/ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and locations. The lack
of research in this area is due in part to the absence of data with which to
study these questions. Data on the quality and quantity of physical activity
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Educating the Student Body: Taking Physical Activity and Physical Education to School
326
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
