Implementation of Brain Breaks® in the Classroom and Its Effects on Attitudes towards Physical Activity in a Chinese School Setting

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of three-months of classroom-based Brain Breaks Physical Activity Solution (Brain Breaks®) on attitudes toward physical activity levels of primary school children in Henan Province, China. The participants were 704 children enrolled in grades 3–5 who were randomly assigned to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group participated in Brain Breaks® video intervention for 3–5 min daily, at low-to-moderate intensity for three consecutive months. The control group resumed their normal routine. The children’s attitudes in both groups towards physical activity (PA) were evaluated using the self-reported Attitudes toward Physical Activity Scale (APAS), before and after the intervention. The effects of the intervention on APAS scores were analyzed using mixed model analysis of variance with Time as within-subject, and Group as between-subject factors. The analysis revealed evidence in support of the positive effect of classroom video interventions such as Brain Break on children’s attitudes toward importance, fun, and trying to do their personal best in physical activity. Also revealed was the important role the teacher plays in this process.

Psychometric Properties of the Chinese-Language Attitude toward Physical Activity Scale: A Confirmatory Study on Chinese Children

“…The final APAS-C verified in this study was shown sufficient internal consistency with the Cronbach's alpha ranging between and 0.50 and 0.76. A previous study reported Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.65 to 0.76 [16]. In addition, all the correlations between the factors of the APAS-C were less than the cut-off value of 0.85.…”

“…Previous studies [2,16,18] reported that children's attitudes toward physical activity were associated with their appreciation of how regular physical activity contribute to their personal satisfaction and fulfilment. The development of valid and reliable scales to measure children's attitudes toward physical activity is therefore of vital importance [16]. One such important measure is the Attitude toward Physical Activity Scale (APAS).…”

“…An effort to promote and encourage children and adolescents to embark on physical activity lifestyle changes has become a key focus of many health professionals [16]. Regular physical activity can influence children's spiritual satisfaction and enjoyment [17,18] and exercise activities which are exciting and arousing curiosity tend to attract more children participation [18].…”

“…A person's attitude toward physical activity is defined as the individual's tendency to favor or disfavor the behavior of physical activity [20,21]. Previous studies [2,16,18] reported that children's attitudes toward physical activity were associated with their appreciation of how regular physical activity contribute to their personal satisfaction and fulfilment. The development of valid and reliable scales to measure children's attitudes toward physical activity is therefore of vital importance [16].…”

“…One such important measure is the Attitude toward Physical Activity Scale (APAS). The APAS was developed in experimental studies to estimate the effect of Brain Breaks video exercise conveyed lessons [16]. It contains a demographic part and seven factors, reflecting children's attitudes and perceptions concerning numerous perspectives of participation in physical activity, especially physical activity using video games [22].…”