High stakes standardized testing has placed many schools in the difficult position of choosing academic goals over time spent being physically active. This environment creates a barrier to the adoption of interventions to increase physical activity. Children's physical activity need not be sacrificed to achieve academic goals. Texas I-CAN! is designed to achieve curricular goals through movement, with chidren experiencing 10-15 min of MVPA during each academic lesson. The success of this intervention is dependent upon adequate teacher implementation. The Theory of Planned Behavior will be used to guide the teacher intervention to support implementation, with the constructs of social norms and perceived behavioral control specifically targeted. This proposal is, therefore, designed to determine the effects of the Texas I-CAN! curriculum relative to a no-intervention control on levels of in-class physical activity and the impact of teacher implementation on this effect. BMI and standardized test scores will serve as secondary outcomes. We will utilize 8 schools, matched on size, SES, and ethnicity, that are assigned to condition within each pair. From these schools, we will recruit approximately 44 teachers and 660 3rd grade students, with comparisons occurring between Hispanic and Caucasian male and female students. Thus, ethnicity and gender, along with BMI category, will serve as blocking variables in the 4-level, hierarchical analysis. Activity will be determined by 5-day, in-school monitoring with pedometers, supplemented with a randomly selected sub-group using accelerometery (n=160). Data collection will occur for each school over 1 year, prior to and following a 6 month intervention. The results will provide an initial evaluation of Texas I-CAN! and indicate the adequacy of our protocol for implementation. They will also provide effect size and ICC estimations for future power analyses. Thus, these data will form the basis of a future efficacy trail, in conjunction with dietary interventions, on BMI. This research represents the next logical step in the development of a adjunct to the elementary school curriculum that utilizes physical activity to reach academic goals. If shown to impact children's physical activity, the resulting curriculum will provide an easy to disseminate tool to aid in the battle against childhood obesity. ? ? ?
| Grieco, Lauren A; Jowers, Esbelle M; Errisuriz, Vanessa L et al. (2016) Physically active vs. sedentary academic lessons: A dose response study for elementary student time on task. Prev Med 89:98-103 |
| Bartholomew, John B; Jowers, Esbelle M (2011) Physically active academic lessons in elementary children. Prev Med 52 Suppl 1:S51-4 |
| Grieco, Lauren A; Jowers, Esbelle M; Bartholomew, John B (2009) Physically active academic lessons and time on task: the moderating effect of body mass index. Med Sci Sports Exerc 41:1921-6 |
