Sustaining Quality Physical Education for Healthy Kids

Students in 4th-7th grades from 17 elementary and middle schools in Michigan were invited to participate in the study. Students were assessed with cardiorespiratory fitness, social emotional learning skills, physical activity, and mental well-being at a baseline and the post-intervention tests before and after the Smart-QPE intervention. The Smart-QPE intervention included that PE teachers integrate the Heart Zone Moves System into their teaching quality physical education lesson in October and November, 2025.

Inclusion criteria

• students are 4rd-7th grade students aged 8-14 years old;
• enroll in the school offered physical education classes;
• being able to read and write in English;
• students can skip any questions they don't want to answer as they respond to the survey questions at the baseline and the post-intervention; and
• students can stop the aerobic fitness test at the baseline and the post-intervention

Exclusion criteria

• students cannot complete the survey, which means that students had difficulty understanding the meaning of each item due to severe cognitive impairment informed by the school nurse/social worker,
• students do not submit the survey on time (within a week),
• if a student only submit one survey either at baseline or at the post-intervention,
• students cannot take the aerobic fitness test, which means that students had difficulty moving their body due to severe physical impairment informed by school nurse/social worker.