After-school setting, physical activity, and sedentary behavior in 5th grade boys and girls.
After-school hours are considered critical for children's physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB); however, whether the after-school setting influences children's activity patterns is unknown. This study examined the influence of after-school setting (i.e., parent report of the child's usual after-school setting) on 5th grade children's PA and SB, and differences by race/ethnicity. Boys whose parents reported they usually attended an after-school program had higher PA than boys who usually went home after school. A significant interaction between race/ethnicity and after-school setting showed that minority girls whose parents reported they usually attended an after-school program had higher PA and engaged in less SB compared with those who usually went home, whereas the activity patterns of white girls did not differ by after-school setting. Children's usual after-school setting affects their activity patterns; after-school programs may potentially increase PA in boys and minority girls.
Department of Exercise Science, 921 Assembly Street, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA. sross@mailbox.sc.edu
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Taverno Ross
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Dowda
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Colabianchi
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Saunders
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Pate
D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D013022:South Carolina