Contact us
 |
[email protected] |
 |
3275638434 |
 |
 |
| Paper Publishing WeChat |
Useful Links
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Article
Physical Activity in Pre-school Children: Role of the Teacher during Free Play
Author(s)
Dean Culpepper1 and Lorraine Killion2
Full-Text PDF
XML 797 Views
DOI:10.17265/2332-7839/2018.03.002
Affiliation(s)
1. Department of Health and Human Performance, Texas A&M University-Commerce, Commerce, Texas 75429, USA
2. Department of Health and Kinesiology, Texas A&M University-Kingsville, 700 University Blvd, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
ABSTRACT
It has become evident over the
past decade that the lack of PA (physical activity) is a major concern for the
population at large CDC (Center for Disease
Control). This lack is a
major reason for the increase in overweight and obese children (USDHHS, 2014).
The CDC and the American Heart Association recommend children need at least 60
minutes of play time that is not scheduled PA. The purpose of this research was
to examine whether children’s PA will increase if teacher activity increases
during unstructured free play time. Students’ PA was determined by using the SOPLAY (system
for observing play and leisure activity in youth-children). SOPLAY is a
validated tool for directly observing PA and associated environmental
characteristics in free play settings (e.g., recess and lunch at school).
SOPLAY provides objective data on the number of participants and their PA
levels during play and leisure opportunities in targeted areas. Children and
teachers in a West Texas Lab School (mean age = 4.3 years) on a university
campus were studied. Control group data (males = 13, female = 15) were analyzed and MVPA (moderate
to vigorous physical activity) was calculated. Data showed that children spent
only 30% of their free-time in the recommended intensity levels. Teachers’ (n = 5) overall metabolic
equivalents (METs) were recorded at 1.13. The experimental group
(males = 11, female = 13) recorded
teachers’ (n = 6) METs at 2.47 and children MVPA at 44%. Both the
MVPA and METs were significantly
different (p < 0.001). The value and
importance of unstructured play time are important for children as well as the teachers.
Children need time to be creative and explore during play and teachers use this
free time for various activities including cognitive breaks or administrative
work. A stronger push to get teachers moving should be made as this slight
increase in METs produces a significant increase in children’s PA.
KEYWORDS
PA, free play, children, school, teacher.
Cite this paper
References