Scheduled for Measurement Symposium: Objective Measurement of Physical Activity in Physical Education, Tuesday, April 25, 2006, 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Convention Center: 150DEF


Using Accelerometers to Measure Physical Activity in Physical Education

Guy C. Le Masurier, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Accelerometers are effective tools for the objective measurement of physical activity because they have the ability to continuously record physical activity data over user-specified time intervals (e.g., 5s, 15s, 30s, 1min, etc.). Estimates of physical activity intensity (i.e., METs, MPA, MVPA) can be determined using the accelerometer output and age-specific physical activity intensity cut-points. Thus, accelerometers can provide objective estimates of the time students spend in health enhancing levels of physical activity during physical education. Accelerometers place less burden on physical educators/researchers compared to direct observation and provide more detailed information (e.g. physical activity intensity) compared to pedometers. However, accelerometers ($350-500) are more expensive than pedometers ($10-80) and direct observation equipment, and often require external hardware (i.e., computer interface equipment) and software. Researchers have used accelerometers to examine physical activity in physical education (Hastie & Trost, 2002; Nilsson et al., 2002) and to validate other physical activity measurement tools for assessing physical activity in physical education (Pope et al., 2002). Technical issues (e.g., time sampling intervals, intensity cut-points, and data-treatment) and practical challenges (e.g., distribution, rules/protocols, and collection) must be considered before using accelerometers in physical education. Establishing standardized accelerometer data collection procedures among researchers is necessary for collecting valid and comparable measures of physical activity in physical education.
Keyword(s): measurement/evaluation, physical activity, technology

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