Scheduled for Exercise Physiology and Fitness Free Communications, Thursday, April 3, 2003, 4:15 PM - 5:15 PM, Convention Center: 304


Viability of Pedometer Use in the Assessment of the Activity Levels in Preschool Children

Linda Carson and Suzan F. Ayers, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

The present study was designed to ascertain the viability of using pedometers (Walk4Life, Model NEO 2500) to document physical activity in young children. Currently, there are no documented studies involving pedometer use in children younger than the third grade. Levin & Martin (2002) recently reported the implementation of a physical activity program for Head Start programs in South Carolina. The present study may offer a means by which the success of this type of intervention can be objectively measured. A second purpose of the present study was to determine if structured movement lessons supplementing standard Head Start curriculum would provide increased levels of physical activity in Head Start children. The intervention was implemented in two Head Start classrooms (T) and the control group (C) was drawn from two additional classrooms at a second Head Start center in same community in northern West Virginia. The T group participated in the standard Head Start curriculum plus a randomly assigned pattern of three days per week use of a teacher-facilitated, age-appropriate physical activity video for eight weeks, while the C group participated in only the standard Head Start curriculum. The T group recorded significantly (M=68272.43, SD=22362, p=.000) more physical activity than the C group (M=68272.43, SD=11888) as measured by the pedometers. There was a significant correlation (r=0.344, p=.012) between group and changes in BMI over the course of eight weeks. There was also a significant correlation between total activity and systolic blood pressure changes during the study (r=0.447, p=.001). The results of this preliminary study suggest that the pedometer may be a viable tool for documenting the amount of physical activity (or movement) being experience by pre school children. In addition, activity-based interventions in young children may alter health risk factors that have a potentially cumulative effect.

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