Background/Purpose: State and national physical activity (PA) guidelines recommend all children attending afterschool programs (ASPs) accumulate 4600 steps per day while attending an ASP. Research indicates less than 20% of children meet this guideline in ASPs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of comprehensive and coordinated approach on pedometer-determined PA levels of children attending four-large scale ASPs programs
Method: Five hundred and fifty children (255 girls) attending four ASPs participated in a quasi-experimental pre-post study. Children wore Walk4LifeMVPa pedometers on 4 nonconsecutive, unannounced days (Mon-Thru) during baseline (Fall 2011) and post-intervention (Spring 2012). The intervention (January-April 2012) consisted of: policy implementation, professional development training, on-site booster sessions and ongoing technical assistance. Random-effects linear and logit models evaluated the impact of the intervention on steps/day and the percentage meeting the 4600 steps/day guideline.
Analysis/Results: An increase from 2,558 to 3,264 steps/day and 3375 to 4258 steps/day from Fall to Spring was observed, representing a 4.41 (95CI 2.49-7.83) and 2.24 (95CI 1.57-3.21) increase in the odds of meeting the 4600 steps/day guideline for girls and boys, respectively. The proportion meeting 4600 steps/day increased from 8.3% to 21.1% and 25.1% to 39.1% for girls and boys, respectively.
Conclusions: The comprehensive and coordinated approach implemented over 4 months is effective in increasing the number of children attending ASPs meeting the 4600 steps/day guideline. Additional efforts are required to ensure all children meet the activity guideline.
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