TITLE:
Effects of a Two-Day Teachers’ Training Course on Activity Time in Physical Education
AUTHORS:
Miriam Wanner, Eva Martin-Diener, Claudia Frick, Susi Kriemler, Brian W. Martin
KEYWORDS:
Health Promotion, Physical Activity, Physical Education, Teaching
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Preventive Medicine,
Vol.4 No.5,
May
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: Schools are a key
setting for promoting physical activity in children. There is little evidence
on the potential of widely implemented programs to improve the quality of
physical education (PE). The aim was to assess the effects of a short training
course for classroom teachers on the quality of PE, assessed as activity time
during PE. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 6 intervention (N = 86) and 13 control classes (N = 151). Schools
were selected in a random procedure (26.9% participation). Participation
in children was 86.2% (mean age 7.8 years, 48.9% girls). Physical activity
was assessed objectively using accelerometers. Effect on time spent in
sedentary, moderate, vigorous and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) activities, steps
and counts/minute during PE were analysed using t-tests and mixed linear
models. Physical activity time increased significantly in the intervention but
not in the control group between baseline and follow-up (relative increase in
moderate-to-vigorous physical activity of 12% in intervention group). Increases
were strongest in girls and in children inactive at baseline. In the mixed
linear models adjusted for clustering, the effects were significant in girls
for vigorous activities, sedentary time and counts/minute, in inactive
children for steps. Results indicate that a short training course for classroom
teachers can have subtle positive effects on physical activity time during PE.
Girls and the most inactive children at baseline profited most from the
intervention.