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Abstract

Problem Statement: School physical education has been identified as an important time for increasing children's physical activity. Unfortunately, children are not as active and recommended. Pedometers and goal setting may be one way to increase physical activity. The purpose of the project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a pedometer-based goal-setting and encouragement intervention on physical activity in physical education. Participants totaled 200 (n = 94 control, n = 106 intervention) 3rd and 4th graders, aged 8 to 10 years old in Southwest United States. The New Lifestyles NL-1000 physical activity monitor was utilized to measure step counts. Participating classes were randomly divided into 2 groups (control and intervention). The intervention group was given a step goal accompanied by encouragement feedback strategies including signs and verbal encouragement at regular intervals throughout the lesson. The control group was given the same lesson with no step goal or feedback. The goal was to reach 2,000 steps each lesson. An independent-samples t test was utilized to examine differences between groups. The intervention group showed a statistically significant difference in step counts compared to the control group, t(194)=-6.40, p<.001. The goal setting and pedometer group averaged 2046±406 steps while the control group averaged 1695±356. There were no differences between grades (p=.23). Findings indicated that setting goals and providing feedback for daily step counts in physical education have the ability to increase daily physical activity. Pedometers have the opportunity to motivate and encourage and are a relatively inexpensive tool that can be used in physical education.