Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine primary (grades 1-3) and junior (grades 4-6) students' physical activity (PA) in the context of the Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines (2016); specifically, their time spent in moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA; 'sweat'), light intensity PA (LPA; 'step'), and sedentary behaviour (SB; 'sit') during school day nutrition breaks. Children (n = 159; 52% girls) from two Northern Ontario elementary schools following the balanced school day schedule wore an omni-directional accelerometer (Philips Respironics ActiCal; sampling rate 2 sec) for 5 consecutive school days between March and June. Pre-determined cut-points (Colley et al., 2011) were used to calculate the amount of time spent in MVPA, LPA, and SB during the 40-minute nutrition/physical activity breaks. A 2 (Division) x 2 (Sex) MANOVA showed that students in the primary grades spent significantly more time in LPA than those in junior grades (F(1, 155) = 7.14, p < .05, n2 = .04), and junior grade students spent significantly more time in MVPA than primary (F(1, 155) = 3.98, p < .05, n2 = 0.02). Regardless of grade, boys displayed significantly more LPA and MVPA and less SB than girls (ps < .05, n2 = .07-.14). During each nutrition break, children were engaged in some form of PA for approximately 13 minutes (SD = 2.95) and accumulated 8-11% towards recommended daily MVPA. Further exploration of variations in play activities and patterns within school contexts may help to identify opportunities to tailor PA interventions to girls and younger children.Acknowledgments: This study was funded by a Nipissing University Internal Research Grant