Contribution of high and moderate-intensity physical education classes to the daily physical activity level in children

Abstract

Introduction. Children’s engagement in vigorous-intensity physical activity is more effective in improving fitness than moderate-intensity physical activity. However, there is limited information about the effect of vigorous-intensity physical education classes on daily physical activity levels. Objective .Compare the contribution of high and moderate-intensity physical education classes by assessing 5 daily physical activity level classifications[sedentary time (ST) and time of light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA), and moderate-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)] in 9–10-year-old students. Materials and methods. A total of 66 students were recruited with a mean age of 9.48 ± 0.5 years. The participants were assigned to 2 groups: highintensity activity and moderate-intensity activity. The physical activity level was assessed by accelerometry (Actigraph wGT3X-BT). The Wilcox on signed-rank test was used for the pre and post-intervention statistical analysis. Results. No significant differences were observed in ST (1993.0 min; 1980.5 min, p = 0.429), LPA (800.5 min; 817.3 min, p = 0.191), MPA (67.7 min; 65.4 min, p = 0.299), VPA (18.7 min; 16.5 min, p = 0.098), and MVPA (86.4 min; 82.0 min, p = 0.267) for the high-intensity activity group. For the moderate-intensity activity group, no significant differences were observed neither for ST (1893.5 min; 1959.7 min, p = 0.170) nor for LPA (873.4 min; 845.4 min, p = 0.545). Compared to the high-intensity activity group, the moderateintensity activity group exhibited a significant reduction in MPA (91.0 min; 63.2 min, p = 0.000), VPA (22.0 min; 11.6 min, p = 0.011), and MPVA (113.0 min; 74.8 min, p = 0.001). Conclusion. High-intensity physical activity did not significantly contribute to an increase in physical activity levels among different intensities (LPA, MPA, VPA, MVPA) but did not decrease them either. Nevertheless, moderate-intensity physical activity decreased the levels of MPA, VPA, and MVPA per day.