Relationship Between Break-Time Physical Activity, Age, and Sex in a Rural Primary Schools, Wales, UK

The aim of this study was to examine the physical activity during the break-times of primary school children in rural areas, and its relationship with age and sex. 380 children (192 boys and 188 girls; age=9.5±1.1 years) participated in the study. Break-time physical activity in the morning and lunch breaks was measured by accelerometry. An ANOVA was used to determine differences by sex in each age group, together with the respective confidence intervals and effect sizes. The results showed that 8-year-olds performed more physical exercise than 11-year-olds during the two breaks (p=0.005). For the boys, the 8-year-olds did more physical activity than the 10-year-olds, while, for the girls, those aged 8 and 9 years did more PA than girls aged 11 years (p<0.001). The only difference between boys and girls was for the 10-year-olds (p=0.043), with the boys doing more physical activity. Teachers might find it useful to take these findings into account to design physical activity programmes aimed at increasing the playground physical activity of older children.