Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Oct;7(4):234-41.
doi: 10.1177/2150131916656177. Epub 2016 Jun 29.

Increasing Children's Voluntary Physical Activity Outside of School Hours Through Targeting Social Cognitive Theory Variables

James J Annesi  1 , Stephanie M Walsh  2 , Brittney L Greenwood  3
Affiliations

Increasing Children's Voluntary Physical Activity Outside of School Hours Through Targeting Social Cognitive Theory Variables

James J Annesi et al. J Prim Care Community Health. 2016 Oct.

Abstract

Introduction: Volume of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity completed during the elementary school day is insufficient, and associated with health risks. Improvements in theory-based psychosocial factors might facilitate increased out-of-school physical activity.

Methods: A behaviorally based after-school care protocol, Youth Fit 4 Life, was tested for its association with increased voluntary, out-of-school physical activity and improvements in its theory-based psychosocial predictors in 9- to 12-year-olds.

Results: Increases over 12 weeks in out-of-school physical activity, and improvements in self-regulation for physical activity, exercise self-efficacy, and mood, were significantly greater in the Youth Fit 4 Life group (n = 88) when contrasted with a typical care control group (n = 57). Changes in the 3 psychosocial variables significantly mediated the group-physical activity change relationship (R(2) = .31, P < .001). Change in self-regulation was a significant independent mediator, and had a reciprocal relationship with change in out-of-school physical activity. In the Youth Fit 4 Life group, occurrence of 300 min/wk of overall physical activity increased from 41% to 71%.

Conclusions: Targeting theory-based psychosocial changes within a structured after-school care physical activity program was associated with increases in children's overall time being physically active. After replication, large scale application will be warranted.

Keywords: physical activity; psychological; social cognitive; voluntary; youth.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Relationships among variables within mediation analyses.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Smith AL, Biddle SJH, eds. Youth Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics; 2008.
    1. Magarey AM, Daniels LA, Boulton TJ, Cockington RA. Predicting obesity in early adulthood from childhood and parental obesity. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003;57:505-513. - PubMed
    1. US Department of Health and Human Services. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans Midcourse Report: Strategies to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; 2012. http://health.gov/paguidelines/midcourse/pag-mid-course-report-final.pdf. Accessed June 3, 2016.
    1. World Health Organization. Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health: Physical Activity and Young People. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2016. http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/factsheet_young_people/en/. Accessed June 3, 2016.
    1. Troiano RP, Berrigan D, Dodd KW, Mâsse LC, Tilert T, McDowell M. Physical activity in the United States measured by accelerometer. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008;40:181-188. - PubMed