Education Commons^™

Educational Environments And Children's Physical Activity And Sedentary Behaviors, Nathan R. Tokarek

Theses and Dissertations

Children and adolescents spend the majority of their day engaged in sedentary behaviors (SB), while also not meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations. The failure to develop and maintain health enhancing behaviors from a young age may impact an individual throughout their life. With children and adolescents spending a large proportion of their waking hours in a school setting, the educational environment presents an opportunity in which children and adolescents’ PA and SB can be positively influenced. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to explore how children and adolescent’s school time PA and SB are associated with the educational setting, …

Effects Of Recess On Educational Outcomes In Elementary School Children, Katelyn Whitham

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Introduction: Because physical activity is beneficial for physical and mental health, the declining opportunities to implement adequate recesses in schools are devastating for children. If educational outcomes are positively affected by increased recess time or quality, schools are more likely to receive funding for programs and resources that support this renovation to recesses, providing research in lacking topics. Purpose: The purpose of this systematic review is to find related, academic articles for cross examination of data collected on the effects that recess has on educational outcomes so that schools may use this as a resource to receive funding to increase …

Health And Nutrition, Sydney Williams, Lauren Larson

Honors Expanded Learning Clubs

The goal of this club was to inform and build upon the knowledge about health and nutrition of 4th and 5th graders. We did different activities to engage the children in a fun way of learning about health and nutrition so that it wouldn't feel like an extension of school.

Public Elementary School Teachers' Experiences With Implementing Outdoor Classrooms, Lori Schultz Goff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Children experience limited time outdoors and have few opportunities for outdoor learning in schools, putting them at risk for being unprepared to engage in solving environmental and societal problems. Researchers have examined outdoor learning at the preschool and high school levels; elementary school experiences have been explored less frequently. Guided by a conceptual framework informed by social emotional learning (SEL), ecological literacy, and teacher self-efficacy, this study investigated public school elementary teachers' experiences with outdoor classrooms including barriers and supports to creating and using outdoor classrooms. A qualitative design using in-depth interviews with interpretive phenomenological analysis techniques was conducted with …

The Impact Of Stand-Biased Desks On After-School Physical Activity Behaviors In Children, Nathan Tokarek

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess changes in after-school time spent performing sedentary behavior (SB), light intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) among elementary school children in response to the introduction of stand-biased desks in the classroom. Thirty-one 6th grade participants randomly assigned by their teacher to a traditional (CON) or stand-biased (INT) desk provided complete accelerometer data. After-school PA and SB were measured on four consecutive weekdays at baseline and 10-weeks. Wilcoxon Rank Sum Tests were used to detect significant differences (p<0.10) in changes in the proportion of after-school wear time performing SB and PA between groups. Results suggested no significant differences in changes in after-school time performing SB (p=0.770), LPA (p=0.740), or MVPA (p=0.470). Significant differences in the change in moderate PA (INT: -1.4%; CON: -0.2%, p=0.093) were detected. Stand-biased desks were not detrimental to children’s after-school PA and SB.

How Feedback And Goal-Setting Impact Children's Recess Physical Activity, Ryann Koufoudakis, Heather Erwin, Aaron Beighle, Michelle L. Thornton

Kinesiology and Health Promotion Faculty Publications

In recent years, schools desire to promote physical activity (PA) for their students but are restricted due to resources being expended in other areas of their curriculum, including standardized testing preparation. Recess/lunch periods have potential to contribute important amounts of PA to youth’s overall levels. Interventions to maximize PA during recess are warranted. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the impact of feedback and goal-setting on students’ PA during recess. A sample of 136 (67 females, 69 males) 4^th and 5^th grade students in the Southeast United States wore unsealed Walk4Life pedometers during recess for one …

The Association Of Wellness Policy Quality And Percentage Of Obesity In Schools, Bryce M. Abbey

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Schools possess a unique opportunity to reach a large captive audience and are becoming one of the battlegrounds for childhood obesity. To address the school environment’s role on the influence of American children’s nutritional intake and participation in physical activity, the United States (US) Federal Government adopted the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, placing an emphasis on implementation of the local school wellness policy (LSW). The purpose of this study was to examine the association between LSW and percentage of obesity in school districts within Nebraska. Aggregate district-wide body mass index (BMI) percentile data were utilized from previously collected …

Effect Of An After-School Garden Club Program On Elementary Students, Maggie Caroline Mcgriff

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if three elementary school garden club programs influenced students' attitudes and behaviors regarding fruit and vegetable consumption. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis took place, in the form of pretest and posttest questionnaires as well as participant interviews. Overall, non-significant results were found in the quantitative portion of the study, which led the researcher to determine that the garden club program had no significant effect on the participants regarding perceptions of fruit and vegetable consumption. The overall non-significant differences found before and after the garden club intervention programs could lead …

Validating The Food Behavior Questions From The Elementary School Span Questionnaire, Yeon Bai, Krisha Thiagarajah, Alyce D. Fly, Deanna M. Hoelscher, Kaman Lo, Angela Leone, Julie A. Shertzer

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

The School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) questionnaire were developed as a surveillance instrument to measure physical activity, nutrition attitudes, and dietary and physical activity behaviors in children and adolescents. The SPAN questionnaire has 2 versions.

Objective

This study was conducted to evaluate the validity of food consumption items from the elementary school version of the SPAN questionnaire.

Design

Validity was assessed by comparing food items selected on the questionnaire with food items reported from a single 24-hour recall covering the same reference period.

Setting

5 elementary schools in Indiana.

Participants

Fourth-grade student volunteers (N = 121) from 5 …

Nf98-387 Children And Stress, Herbert G. Lingren

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension: Historical Materials

This NebFact offers some advice to help reduce stress in children's lives.