Physical Education Increases Daily Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity and Reduces Sedentary Time

摘要

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Physical activity ( PA ) is important to mental and physical health. Physical education ( PE ) lessons have the potential to increase daily moderate to vigorous PA ( MVPA ) and reduce sedentary time ( SED ). We measured MVPA and SED in primary school PE , determined the contribution of PE to daily MVPA and SED , and compared PA on days with and without PE . METHODS PA was measured in 504 first (ages 7‐9) and second (ages 10‐12) school level children for 1 school week, with inclusion criteria of at least 10?hours of valid data. Linear mixed methods were used for data analysis. RESULTS In PE , students spent 28.6?±?16.5% in MVPA and 29.3?±?19.8% in SED . Each additional MVPA minute in PE was associated with 1.4 more daily MVPA minutes. On days with PE , students had 12.8 (95% CI 10.5; 15.0) minutes more MVPA and 9.7 (95% CI 16.3; 3.1) minutes less SED compared with days without PE . CONCLUSIONS Although MVPA in PE was relatively low and SED high, PE significantly increased daily MVPA and reduced SED , confirming the important role of PE in supporting the healthy development of children.