Background/Purpose More than one in three Native American children born in 2000 will likely be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime (Bell & Choate, 2009). Purpose: To provide one Native American community opportunities to increase students' physical activity minutes at school through a morning running club as well as physical activity breaks provided during the school day.
Method Elementary teachers (n = 18), teaching K-6th grade at one Native American school participated in this aspect of the school wide healthly living initiative program. Teaching experience ranged from 1-30 years (m = 16). Students participated in the Running Club before school
Analysis/Results Teachers reported their students' running club data (laps converted to miles) five times over the 2009-2010 school year. Running club, Time 1, teachers recorded distances or laps students ran m = 1.56 miles daily; Time 2, m = 3.74 miles daily; Time 3, m = 3.01 miles daily; Time 4, m = 3.61 miles daily, and Time 5, m = 2.32 miles daily. Teachers also reported that students' weekly physical activity minutes exceeded the national recommendation (150 minutes), with running club contributing significantly to physical activity time accumulated.
Conclusions This study demonstrates that if activity opportunities are provided for students, recommended physical activity levels can be met and/or exceeded in a Native American setting. Further, teachers walked/ran with their students in the program and teachers and students reported enjoying the running club experiences.