Are Gross Motor Skill Interventions an Equitable Replacement for Outdoor Free Play Regarding Children’s Physical Activity?

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine if children engaged in equal amounts of physical activity during an established gross motor skill intervention (the Children’s Health Activity Motor Program (CHAMP)) and outdoor free play. Design Cross-sectional study; sample: Ninety-nine children (Mage = 4.21, 51% boys) were randomly divided into two movement environments: CHAMP (n = 55) or control/outdoor free play (n = 44). Measures Physical activity was assessed using GT3X+ Actigraph accelerometers worn on the waist across four mornings. Average physical activity across the four days during either CHAMP or outdoor free play was extracted and categorized as light, moderate, vigorous, or MVPA. Physical activity data were reduced in the Actilife software using the cutpoints from Evenson et al. Analysis A 2 (treatment) x 2 (sex) mixed measures ANOVA was used to compare the amount of time children spent in light, moderate, vigorous, and MVPA. Results There was a significant main effect for treatment for light PA (F(3,95) =13.60, P<.001, partial η2=.125), and post hoc t-tests support that children in the control/outdoor free play group engaged in more light PA compared with children in CHAMP (t95 = −3.75, P<.001). Conclusions Results show that children in CHAMP engaged in less light PA but equal amounts of all other physical activity behaviors than their peers in outdoor free play.