Evaluation of CHAM JAM Increasing Physical Activity Levels in Students

Background: Medical and national public health authorities recommend daily school physical education for all ages due to well-known health benefits of physical activity. Nevertheless, daily physical education among elementary and secondary school students is not common in United States' (US) schools. Moreover, some of the schools in many US cities, such as the Bronx, do not even have gymnasiums or physical education teachers.

Objective: We propose to implement and test the effectiveness and feasibility of the "Moving Smart" (MS) program, a daily, 10-minute classroom-based physical activity program led by teachers that integrate academic objectives with physical activity, on increasing physical activity (PA) levels during the school day in Bronx elementary school students.

Design/ Methods: A cluster-randomized, wait-listed control trial of four Bronx elementary schools with one-year follow-up longitudinal study. Students in two intervention schools will receive the MS 3-times daily, for 10-minutes each time, in addition to regular physical education classes. Two wait-listed control schools will receive their regular physical education classes only. Subjects in the wait-listed control group will be offered the MS after the program is withdrawn from the intervention group at the end of the first year of study. A pedometer, an objective measure of PA in children, will be used to determine mean number of steps each student takes during school hours for 5 consecutive days at baseline, and every 3-months during the 2-year study period. For longitudinal follow-up, we will collect data from intervention group students and teachers on PA levels every 3-months for one-year after the intervention cessation. We will also collect yearly BMIs as a measure of overweight status. Descriptive statistics will be used to portray baseline characteristics of each group based on school, district, region, and NYC-wide data. The impact of the intervention on PA will be measured by comparing intervention and control schools using pedometer measurements as the primary dependent variable and students as the unit of analysis. We will collect fidelity measures by randomly selecting classes from the intervention schools and directly observing the level of PA present. We will determine the extent to which the MS becomes a part of the routine school policy by following the students and teachers from the intervention schools for 1-year after the intervention cessation.

Inclusion criteria

• Elementary school students in K-3 grade in the Bronx, New York

Exclusion criteria

• Inability to participate in basic exercise program
• Students whose parents signed the opt-out letter