Evaluation of an extra-curricular school sport programme promoting lifestyle and lifetime activity for adolescents.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of an extra-curricular school sport programme to promote physical activity among adolescents. One hundred and sixteen students (mean age 14.2 years, s = 0.5) were assigned to an intervention (n = 50) or comparison group (n = 66). The 8-week intervention involved structured exercise activities and information sessions. Four days of pedometer monitoring and time spent in non-organized physical activity and sedentary behaviours were measured at baseline and post-test. At baseline, participants were classified using steps per day as low-active (girls <11,000, boys <13,000) or active (girls > or = 11,000, boys > or = 13,000) and the effects of the intervention were assessed using these subgroups. Adolescents in the intervention group classified as low-active at baseline increased their step counts across the 8-week intervention (baseline: 7716 steps/day, s = 1751; post-test: 10,301 steps/day, s = 4410; P < 0.05) and accumulated significantly more steps (P < 0.05) than their peers in the comparison group (baseline: 8414 steps/day, s = 2460; post-test: 8248 steps/day, s = 3674; P = 0.879). The results of the present study provide further evidence that physical activity monitoring using pedometers is an effective strategy for increasing activity among low-active adolescents.
Lubans
David
D
School of Education, University of Newcastle, Callaghan Campus, Newcastle, NSW 2308, Australia. david.lubans@newcastle.edu.au
Morgan
Philip
P
D000293:Adolescent; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012574:Schools