Background/Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a system of goal setting and positive reinforcement on physical activity (PA) levels of elementary-aged children who were identified as sedentary during school-based recess.
Method: Single case changing-criterion design was employed. Participants were 4th-5th grade females identified as sedentary during recess (N = 8). Participants wore pedometers during a daily 30-minute recess period for a one-week baseline followed by a six-week intervention that included use of individual daily step goals (DSG) and incentives. Criterion for change of DSG included participant ability to meet/exceed DSG on the majority days of the week.
Analysis/Results: Visual inspection of data was used to determine how PA levels matched the changing-criterion DSG across the intervention. Two participants' demonstrated increased PA aligned with increased stepwise changing-criterion across the intervention. Two participants demonstrated increased PA in a stepwise manner following an adjustment of initial DSG that proved to be too high. Two participants demonstrated uneven PA patterns that increased across several weeks then dropped only to increase again. Uneven patterns of meeting DSG aligned with PA patterns. One participant demonstrated small increase in PA, but did not meet the criterion for change across the intervention. One participant had significant decrease in PA levels and was inconsistent in meeting DSG.
Conclusions: Data indicated a structured incentive program during school recess may be an effective strategy for increasing MVPA of sedentary 4th-5th grade females. Findings offer a strategy to more effectively use school recess for enhancing MVPA in elementary schools.