An Integrated Curriculum Approach to Increasing Habitual Physical Activity in Children : A Feasibility Study

Oliver, Melody ;  Schofield, Grant ;  McEvoy, Erin ; Journal of School Health, v76 n2 p74-79 Feb 2006

Target Group: School-Age Children

Program Name: “Virtual Walk” around New Zealand

Location: Auckland , New Zealand

Study Objective: The purposes of this study were to (1) design and implement a 4-week elementary school curriculum unit, based around pedometer walking; determined through accumulated physical activity and completion of a competitive between classes “virtual walk” around the country and (2) quantify, using pedometry, the physical activity levels of children (n=78) prior to, and during, the unit implementation.

Study Design: Pre and post test

Intervention or Program:

• A relatively new concept is that of "integrating" physical activity throughout the school curriculum during the day, thereby teaching children about lifestyle physical activity in a variety of contexts. One method by which this may be achieved is by utilizing pedometers as a motivational and educational tool for measuring accumulated physical activity .
• Examples of Subject Integration within the interventions curriculum unit
• English: Guided silent and independent reading about 12 cities “virtually” walked in New Zealand and shared reading covering historical events from some of the cities visited
• Social Studies: Investigation of technological change throughout history and the resulting influence on changing levels of physical activity participation and methods of physical activity measurement
• Mathematics: Calculating stride length by measuring distance walked and number of steps taken
• Statistics: Practicing various physical activities (running around 2 chairs, throwing a ball into a bin), estimating the number of times the activity can be completed in 30 seconds, then tallying and totalling the actual number of times the activity is completed in 30 seconds
• Homework: Compiling a list of activities that friends could do to achieve 30 minutes of physical activity a day

Impact on Physical Activity:

• Results showed that more than one half of the participants were achieving more than 15,000 steps daily, and children were significantly more active on weekdays than weekends.
• Boys were more active than girls at baseline and during intervention weekdays.
• Differences between baseline and intervention weekdays were non-significant for the complete sample; however, significant increases in step counts were observed when the children with low activity levels, especially females, were examined separately.
• Overall, the integration of physical activity using pedometer-based activities is feasible. However, any increases in activity may be among children who are least active.

Implications for Practitioners:

• This may be more effective in targeting the inactive
• It is possible to include physical activity in entire school curriculum and promote body learning as well as physical health.

Author's Email: Melody Oliver melody.oliver@aut.ac.nz