Background/Purpose . As childhood obesity continues to rise, there is increased pressure on physical education teachers to offer high quality programs and to provide evidence that the programs are effective in terms of getting kids active and exerting energy. Although measuring heart rate is a common method of assessing program effectiveness, heart rate monitors have limitations. The Physical Activity Index (PAI) combines ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) and pedometer step counts to provide a gauge of exercise volume and energy expenditure, and as such, may serve as an alternative to heart rate for assessing the quality of physical education classes. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the validity of using the PAI with children in physical education classes by examining the relationship between the PAI and a criterion measure of free-living energy expenditure.
Method .The university's IRB approved the project prior to data collection. Fifty-four physical education students (age = 12+0.86 years) participated in a group fitness activity during which pedometer step counts and RPE were measured. Sensewear Pro armbands were also used to provide a criterion measure of energy expenditure.
Analysis/Results .Relationships between the PAI and armband energy expenditure were examined using bivariate correlation coefficients. In general, correlations between the PAI and measured energy expenditure were low to moderate (r = 0.16 to 0.44).
Conclusions . These results suggest that the PAI may be limited in its ability to gauge energy expenditure during physical education classes.
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