Describing the physical activity of high school students who have participated in Global Health approach in elementary school

Introduction According to the Canadian Health Measures Survey (Statistics Canada, 2015), only 9 % of Canadians between 5 and 17 years old reach the recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical... [ view full abstract ]

Introduction According to the Canadian Health Measures Survey (Statistics Canada, 2015), only 9 % of Canadians between 5 and 17 years old reach the recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA). Regarding this issue, several initiatives have been implemented such as emerging School Health Approaches (Rivard & Turcotte, 2013), which promote healthy lifestyles in schools (International Union for Healthy Promotion and Education, 2008). In Québec, Global Health is an emerging approach that promotes health education by creating a favorable environment to students’ physical activity (PA). However, we don’t know much about PA of students who have participated in the Global Health approach (Crowe, 2015; Trudel, 2011). This study describes and analyzes PA of students between 15 and 17 years old who have participated in Global Health in elementary school. An adaptation of the socio-ecological model of Sallis et al. (2006) will serve as a theoretical framework to describe participants’ PA.

Methods Data were collected using accelerometers, notebooks and questionnaires. 24 participants were recruited in order to constitute three profiles. The profiles represent high school programs in which participants are now into such as: 1) high school Global Health; 2) ”Sport-études” and 3) regular program.

Results The results will address the diversity and nature of physical activities practiced by participants in different domains of active living such as: 1) active transportation; 2) recreational activities and 3) school activities. Furthermore, PA levels of participants measured over a week (7 days) will round up the description of their PA. One-third of participants from high school Global Health and “Sport-études” reach the recommendations of daily MVPA in various domains of active living. Contrastingly, participants from regular program are less active, as only one in seven reaches these recommendations.