A selection of common children’s games were measured in a laboratory-based study to be enjoyable and to elicit sufficient physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) in 3rd grade children to combat the purported chronic energy surplus of childhood obesity (~100 kcal.day-1). PAEE during the games was similar for boys and girls, yet overweight children expended greater PAEE relative to body weight than healthy weight children. During a subsequent simulated recess program, the enjoyment declined over the 10-session program with no significant decline in PAEE. Using the enjoyable games of known energy cost in a structured recess program for 9 weeks successfully increased total daily PA compared to the control school who reported substantially greater amount of free-play time. The greater amount of acquired PA in the intervention school children did not affect the amount of time spent in sedentary pursuits but it did result in a smaller increase in body weight after 9 weeks. More research is needed to expand on this initial list of games that reduce the excessive weight gain in children when incorporated into a structured recess intervention.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:open_access_dissertations-1167 |
| Date | 01 February 2010 |
| Creators | Howe, Cheryl A. |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Open Access Dissertations |
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