RC Grant Findings: Relation of Social and Physical Environments to Children's Physical Activity

Background/Purpose The percentage of children in the United States who are overweight has tripled over the last two decades and physical inactivity is a major contributor. Research in the area of physical activity (PA) promotion, coupled with a firmer understanding of what facilitates children to engage in health-enhancing physical activity, is of increasing need. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationships between children's perceptions of their access to physical and social PA environments and their objectively measured PA levels. It was hypothesized that school environment, peer support, and parental support would have significant relationships with children's PA levels.

Method Participants included 256 children, aged 9-12, from four elementary schools in the southern United States. Two questionnaires were administered: (1) a modified version of the Questionnaire Assessing School Physical Activity Environment (QSPACE) measured students' perceived access to physical and social school physical activity environments; and (2) a peer social support questionnaire determined the influence of peers on children's PA. In addition, 55 fathers and 95 mothers completed a parent PA support questionnaire, which provided information on their levels of support for their child's PA . Children's PA levels (step counts and activity time) were assessed using pedometers for four weekdays.

Analysis/Results Overall, girls averaged 10,248.9 (SD = ±3,778) total steps per day (Min-school = 4,072, SD = ±1,523; Mout-of-school = 6,149, SD = ±3,094), while boys accumulated 11,471.2 (SD = ±4,196) total steps per day (Min-school = 4,475.3, SD = ±1,689; Mout-of-school = 7,244.0, SD = ±4,300). There were no significant differences between steps by gender or time. There were no significant uni- or multivariate relationships between steps (in-school, out-of-school, and total) and peer influence, parental reports of social support, or perceived social/physical environment.

Conclusions On average, the children in this sample had lower overall PA levels than typically observed in U.S. youth of similar age. Additionally, these children had substantially lower in-school PA in relation to similar studies. After thorough reflection on the non-significant outcomes of this research (e.g., spot-check of data entry, reevaluation of instruments and procedures for data collection), several explanations evolved: (1) reactivity occurred with the pedometers for the girls in this sample; hence the similar PA levels between genders; (2) variables (e.g., SES, access, location) other than those assessed were more influential to participants' PA; and (3) the school/home environments of these participants may have been too similar to detect significant differences.