Day-to-day and seasonal variability of physical activity during school recess.
OBJECTIVE
Children's physical activity levels are difficult to establish on a day-to-day or season-to-season basis. Most studies have attempted to measure reliability in habitual settings. This study investigated the variability in children's physical activity during recess.


METHODS
Fifteen boys and 19 girls (aged 6 to 11 years) from 2 schools in North West England wore heart rate monitors for 5 consecutive days in summer and winter terms to assess day-to-day and seasonal variability during school recess. Data were collected in 2004. Repeated measures ANOVA's and intraclass correlations (ICC) analysed the day-to-day and seasonal variability in children's moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) and vigorous physical activity (VPA) data.


RESULTS
There were no significant differences in children's MVPA and VPA across days and seasons. ICCs for MVPA across 2 days ranged from 0.75 to 0.85 in summer, and from 0.53 to 0.81 in winter. Three-day MVPA ICCs were 0.83 in summer and 0.71 in winter.


CONCLUSIONS
The results revealed no significant variation in children's recess physical activity levels across days and seasons. Whilst children were free to choose their recess activities in school, the results suggested that children were relatively consistent in their choices, limiting physical activity variability.
Ridgers
Nicola D
ND
Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Henry Cotton Campus, 15-21 Webster Street, Liverpool L3 2ET, UK. n.ridgers@ljmu.ac.uk
Stratton
Gareth
G
Clark
Emily
E
Fairclough
Stuart J
SJ
Richardson
David J
DJ
D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D012574:Schools; D012621:Seasons