The role of schools in children's physical activity participation: staff perceptions

Abstract

The school setting provides a promising environment to increase children's physical activity (PA), however, staff often impact the success of PA within schools. The purpose of this article was to describe the knowledge of elementary school staff related to PA and their perception of the importance of the school environment being conducive to PA prior to the implementation of a recess intervention. Qualitative focus groups were conducted in 12 elementary schools in the Midwest. Grounded theory was used to explore participants' knowledge and perceptions. Participants felt PA was important but believed several factors impacted children's ability to be more active: (i) lack of time due to increasing academic demands, (ii) peer pressure (especially in girls) not to be active and (iii) lack of space and equipment. When discussing recess, staff felt that their encouragement of or active participation in PA with children resulted in more activity. Furthermore, even though participants were aware of PA benefits, they noticed eliminating recess was often used as a punishment for misbehavior. School-based PA promotion and PA opportunities hold great promise for increasing PA in children. However, to maximize these efforts school polices related to training staff about PA are needed.

The views of stakeholders on the role of the primary school in preventing childhood obesity: a qualitative systematic review

“…And I think teachers are getting aware from having kids in their desks all day long. They are having them just moving around’ .…”

“…‘I jumped rope with the kids the other day and they all lined up where I was so they could jump with me and teach me the little dances and they were really excited because that was their teacher’ .…”

“…‘I think we need to provide them an opportunity for it because sometimes they're not going to get it [at] home, it's the only opportunity they're going to have’ .…”

Adolescents' physical activity at recess and actions to promote a physically active school day in four Finnish schools

“…Also, the local contact persons emphasized the role of student recess activators to have affected students’ PA positively. Adults in the school have the potential to either hinder or encourage PA for students [22], and for example reducing restrictions has been associated with increased school break time PA and decreased sedentary behaviour in adolescents [30]. Enabling students to be more proactive about their own PA in the school setting could especially motivate adolescents who in their developmental phase seek independence from adults and support from peers.…”

“…All segments of the school day are considered for PA opportunities, and both physical and human resources are incorporated into the promotion practices [21]. However, school staff members’ perceptions of their role in promoting students’ PA [22] or their readiness for change [23] may vary between schools. Developed interventions could be more flexible and adjustable for implementation in schools, and this could help the school staff to adopt and sustain the promotion practices.…”