Tl. Mckenzie et al., PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY LEVELS AND PROMPTS IN YOUNG-CHILDREN AT RECESS - A 2-YEAR STUDY OF A BI-ETHNIC SAMPLE, Research quarterly for exercise and sport, 68(3), 1997, pp. 195-202
We investigated physical activity and encouragement for activity in a
bi-ethnic cohort during recess. Activity and associated interactions o
f 287 children were recorded at preschool and again 2.2 years later Ch
ildren expended nearly twice res much energy at preschool recess than
at elementary recess. Activity levels declined as recess time elapsed.
At preschool, European-American children engaged in more moderate to
vigorous activity than Mexican-Americans. As participants moved to ele
mentary school, teachers' prompts to be active decreased and prompts f
rom peers increased. Boys and girls received similar amounts of activi
ty prompts at preschool, but prompts to boys increased over time. The
findings suggest that school environments could be altered to promote
healthful physical activity among young children.