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Background: Schools have been suggested as a viable avenue to combat childhood obesity. School administrators are sometimes faced with the conflicting demands of improving the health of their students and maintaining academic performance. Dynamic furniture such as stand-biased desks may be one way to address both academic and health demands placed on schools to prevent childhood obesity. Method: Classrooms with stand-biased desks were compared to classrooms using traditional seated desks in 2(nd),3(rd), and 4(th) grades. The academic engagement of 282 participants was observed in the fall and spring during one academic year. The engagement of the treatment classrooms was compared to the engagement of the control classrooms. Results: Both groups showed general increases in their academic engagement over time. Stand-biased desks do not seem to result in adverse effects on academic engagement when used in elementary classrooms. Conclusion: The data suggests promising results for the use of stand-biased desks in elementary school classrooms. The results suggest that stand-biased desks can be introduced in the classroom to combat childhood obesity through increasing energy expenditure without affecting academic engagement.
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International Journal of Health
Promotion and Education
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The effect of stand-biased desks on
academic engagement: an exploratory
study
Marianela Dornheckera, Jamilia J. Blakea, Mark Bendena, Hongwei
Zhaoa & Monica Wendelb
a Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX 77843, USA
b School of Public Health, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY,
USA
Published online: 21 Apr 2015.
To cite this article: Marianela Dornhecker, Jamilia J. Blake, Mark Benden, Hongwei Zhao & Monica
Wendel (2015): The effect of stand-biased desks on academic engagement: an exploratory study,
International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, DOI: 10.1080/14635240.2015.1029641
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2015.1029641
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The effect of stand-biased desks on academic engagement: an
exploratory study
Marianela Dornhecker
a
, Jamilia J. Blake
a
*, Mark Benden
a
, Hongwei Zhao
a
and
Monica Wendel
b
a
Department of Educational Psychology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA;
b
School of Public Health, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA
(Received 14 June 2014; accepted 11 March 2015)
Schools have been suggested as a viable avenue to combat childhood obesity. School
administrators are sometimes faced with the conflicting demands of improving the
health of their students and maintaining academic performance. Dynamic furniture
such as stand-biased desks may be one way to address both academic and health
demands placed on schools to prevent childhood obesity. Classrooms with stand-biased
desks were compared with classrooms using traditional seated desks in 2nd, 3rd, and
4th grades. The academic engagement of 282 participants was observed in the fall and
spring during one academic year. The engagement of the treatment classrooms was
compared with the engagement of the control classrooms. Both groups showed general
increases in their academic engagement over time. Stand-biased desks do not seem to
result in adverse effects on academic engagement when used in elementary classrooms.
The data suggest promising results for the use of stand-biased desks in elementary
school classrooms. The results suggest that stand-biased desks can be introduced in the
classroom to combat childhood obesity through increasing energy expenditure without
affecting academic engagement.
Keywords: stand-biased desk; classroom design; academic engagement
In an effort to address childhood obesity there have been several interventions aimed at
impacting children’s level of physical activity and healthy eating behavior in the public
school setting (Wechsler et al. 2000; Goran, Reynolds, and Lindquist 1999). Schools have
been chosen as a target setting for obesity prevention and intervention due to the
significant amount of time children spend in school (Wechsler et al. 2000). School
administrators often struggle with managing conflicting demands surrounding the growing
need for integrating healthy and active behaviors in the school setting with increasing the
academic achievement and competitive standing of American children (Kahn et al. 2002).
Recent research suggests that physical activity may have beneficial effects on cognitive
ability and consequently academic achievement, thereby, encouraging the alignment of
school-based efforts to meet students’ health and educational needs (Hillman, Erickson,
and Kramer 2008; Tomporowski et al. 2008).
Given the growing childhood obesity epidemic, health care professionals have
suggested guidelines for reducing the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States
(Services USDoHaH 2000). In 2009 2010, obesity rates were as high as 16.9%, and rates
for overweight children and adolescents aged 2 –19 were 31.8% (body mass index (BMI) $
95th percentile and BMI $85th percentile based on age and gender norms, respectively)
q2015 Institute of Health Promotion and Education
*Corresponding author. Email: jjblake@tamu.edu
International Journal of Health Promotion and Education, 2015
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14635240.2015.1029641
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(Ogden et al. 2012). More specifically, children between the ages of 6 and 11 show rates as
high as 18% for obesity and 32.6% for overweight (Tomporowski et al. 2008). The
alarming rate of unhealthy weight for children is a relatively recent phenomenon. In the
1970s, the rate of obesity was as low as 5% in children and adolescents, but there has been
an average increase of 3.7% per year between 1977 and 2008 in childhood obesity (Wang,
Orleans, and Gortmaker 2012). The increase in BMI may be a result of the increasing
sedentary lifestyle of children and adolescents (Cardon et al. 2004). For example, one study
focusing on children in daycare facilities noted that preschool children spent 55% of their
daycare time in sedentary activities, such as seated play (Bower et al. 2008). Healthy
People 2010 offered guidelines and recommendations to reduce the rate of childhood
obesity back to the prevalence recorded in the 1970s (Hillman, Erickson, and Kramer
2008). Several interventions have been aimed at reducing the energy gap between energy
intake and expenditure to combat sedentary behavior by increasing children’s access to
sports facilities in school or by limiting student access to calorie-dense foods in schools
(Wechsler et al. 2000; Hillman, Erickson, and Kramer 2008; Tomporowski et al. 2008;
Story, Nanney, and Schwarts 2009). Although, there has been stabilization in the rate of
increase each year, standards set by Healthy People 2010 were not reached (Services
USDoHaH 2000). In response, Healthy People 2020 objectives were developed with the
goal of reducing the prevalence rate of obesity recorded in 2008 by 5% for the year 2020,
which would require an average reduction of 41 kcal/day for all children and adolescents,
and specifically a reduction of 37 kcal/day for children 6 to 11 years old (Services
USDoHaH 2000). There have been different opinions offered for how health professionals
can achieve the Healthy People 2020 goal. Wang suggests that reducing small amounts of
daily caloric intake is a much more attainable goal than a massive reduction of caloric
intake once a child reaches the obese category (Wang, Orleans, and Gortmaker 2012).
Interventions targeted at schools, such as reducing the availability of sugar-sweetened
beverages and implementing programs that decrease sedentary behavior, continue to be the
most frequent suggested methods suggested for reaching the new standards set by Healthy
People 2020 (Wang, Orleans, and Gortmaker 2012). These interventions have
demonstrated modest success in increasing energy expenditure in elementary school
children (Goran, Reynolds, and Lindquist 1999; Kahn et al. 2002).
Several studies have shown that daily involvement in organized physical activity
programs, such as physical education (PE), have resulted in reductions in BMI and
decreases in body fat (Wechsler et al. 2000; Cardon et al. 2004; Bower et al. 2008; Story,
Nanney, and Schwarts 2009; Sallis et al. 1997). For example, in a 2-year PE intervention,
there was a significant increase in energy expenditure in children participating in an
intervention group that replaced academic time with PE time (Sallis et al. 1997). In another
study, an aerobic dance intervention with high school girls resulted in a significantly
greater decrease in body weight, whereas body weight in the control group remained
unchanged (Viskic-Stalec et al. 2007).
Due to concerns regarding loss of academic time as a result of greater involvement in
PE classes and activities, numerous studies have investigated the positive effects of
physical activity involvement on academic achievement and classroom behavior (Carlson
et al. 2008; Coe et al. 2006; Nicholson et al. 2011; Sallis et al. 1999). Research with adults
and animals has suggested that exercise results in an increase in oxygen levels to areas of
the brain that support memory and learning (Hillman, Erickson, and Kramer 2008). Adults
have shown improvements in cognitive functions such as processing speed and memory
tasks, and animal research gives insight into which neural sights may be activated and
nourished during physical activity. Tomporowski et al. suggest that exercise has similar
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cognitive effects for children (Tomporowski et al. 2008). Other studies have shown that
children that replace some percentage of their time spent in academic activities with
physical activity have comparable levels of academic achievement to children that did not
replace academic time with physical activity (Viskic-Stalec et al. 2007). These results
suggest that physical activity might improve the efficiency of learning, but more
importantly does not adversely impact academic achievement.
The effects of physical activity on classroom behavior and academic engagement have
also been investigated. For example, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) were
found to exhibit higher levels of classroom engagement following a 20-min aerobic
exercise routine that preceded instruction (Nicholson et al. 2011). Providing further
support for the positive effects of physical activity on student engagement, children that
were deprived from recess for longer periods of time showed more inattention, as
measured by gaze directed at the teacher during instructional time before recess
(Pellegrini, Huberty, and Jones 1995). Collectively, data from studies measuring academic
achievement and classroom engagement suggest that increasing physical activity in the
school setting is an important way to combat sedentary behavior and to improve the
physical health of children without compromising students’ academic achievement.
To achieve the childhood obesity-related objectives set by Healthy People 2020, some
researchers have suggested increasing the amount of movement in the classroom as a
method of combating sedentary behaviors and increasing caloric expenditure in children
(Ogden et al. 2012; Pellegrini, Huberty, and Jones 1995; Lanningham-Foster et al. 2008;
Donnelly et al. 2009). Cardon et al. found that children in traditional seated classrooms
spent, on average, 97% of their day seated (Cardon et al. 2004). By increasing non-
exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT), research suggests that children can expend small
amounts of energy that will facilitate a meaningful increase in caloric expenditure (Naylor
et al. 2008). NEAT is the small amount of energy expended while doing daily tasks such as
walking, standing, working (Levine et al. 2006). Biddle et al. found that some children
exhibit large amounts of active (moderate and vigorous) and sedentary behaviors
throughout the day, thereby suggesting there is sufficient time for both activities in the day.
He concluded that increasing moderate and vigorous physical activity alone may not be
sufficient to target sedentary behavior (Biddle, Gorely, and Stensel 2004). Interventions
aimed at making classrooms more active are favorable because they allow for direct
replacement of sedentary behavior with active behavior. Increasing physical activity may
also be beneficial for learning because it allows children to be physically active while
academically engaged.
To increase activity in the classroom, student desks have been altered to allow children
to expend more energy during instructional activities and academic assignments. One such
alteration involves allowing children to stand at their desk (Benden et al. 2011,2012,
2013; Koepp et al. 2012). Benden et al. have shown that stand-biased desks result in
statistically significant improvements in the energy expenditure of children during the
school day and cause no discomfort to students (Benden et al. 2011,2012,2013; Koepp
et al. 2012; Blake, Benden, and Wendel 2012). Stand-biased desks also do not appear to
adversely impact student achievement, as there have been no significant adverse changes
in 6th grade students’ academic achievement when stand-biased desks are installed in
classrooms, suggesting that the desks are not distracting to children (Koepp et al. 2012).
The extant literature suggests that stand-biased desks aimed at reducing sedentary
behavior by replacing it with more active behaviors have positive health benefits for
children. Although there appear to be no adverse effects of standing behavior on students’
academic achievement, the extent to which standing might have positive effects on
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students’ academic engagement has been largely unexplored. In a qualitative study
examining the utility of stand-biased desks and consumer’s perspective (i.e., classroom
teachers) on the usability of stand-biased desks, Blake et al. found that many teachers
associated stand-biased desks with improvements in students’ attention and focus (Blake,
Benden, and Wendel 2012).
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of standing behavior on student
engagement in elementary classrooms by comparing classrooms that adopted stand-biased
desks to classrooms that utilized traditional seated desks and chairs. Given research
suggesting that physical activity, even at low levels, may provide both physical and
cognitive benefits to children, it is possible that these cognitive benefits may be
attributable to students’ increased ability to sustain attention because the children have an
opportunity to expend excess energy through physical activity while maintaining
cognitive focus on classroom tasks. This study is an exploratory study that seeks to
investigate the possible relationship between physical activity and classroom engagement.
Methods
Subjects
The sample consisted of 282 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade students from 3 schools that
participated in a larger study on the physiological effects of a stand-biased desk
intervention. Classroom teachers (n¼24) who were identified by the school principal as
being willing to participate in the study were recruited for their classroom to participate in
the study through an informational meeting of grade level teachers. The teacher consent
rate was 100%. Parent consent for student participation in the study was obtained through
methods consistent with Institutional Review Board procedures. Letters explaining the
study and its purpose were sent home to parents within a general start-of-the-year packet
sent with students in September. Parental consent was obtained following a presentation
about the study during parent orientation meetings at the start of the school year.
Descriptive statistics for the final study sample (N¼282) are shown in Table 1.
Instruments
Behavioral observations of students in schools (BOSS) (Shapiro 2010). The BOSS was
administered to assess the frequency in which students displayed active engagement (e.g.,
answering a question, raising a hand, participating in active discussion), passive
Table 1. Baseline characteristics and behavior measures for students participating in the study,
expressed in means (standard deviation) or percentages.
Treatment, n¼158 Control, n¼124
Female (%) 51.27 55.28
Grade 2 (%) 35.44 43.55
Grade 3 (%) 45.57 33.87
Grade 4 (%) 18.99 22.58
Black (%) 11.54 14.17
Hispanic (%) 10.90 10.00
Asian (%) 5.77 10.00
White (%) 71.29 66.83
Total engagement 41.9 (7.4) 37.6 (9.1)
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engagement (e.g., attentive toward the lesson but the child does not take an active role in
instructional activities), and off-task behavior in class. The BOSS uses time-sampling to
record the frequency of behaviors that students exhibit within a 15-s interval. For this
study, each student was observed for 12 min on a single day (48 15-s intervals). The BOSS
is intended for practicing clinicians as a diagnostic tool to aid in treatment planning, but
has been used in several research studies with success and adequate reliability (Nicholson
et al. 2011; Vile Junod et al. 2006; Volpe et al. 2005; Amato-Zech, Hoff, and Doepke
2006; DiPerna 2006). The BOSS is scored by counting the total number of behaviors
observed in each category, and dividing each total by the total number of intervals the
child was observed. For this study, students’ total engagement in class was calculated by
averaging students’ passive and active engagement scores. The inter-observer reliability as
measured by the intra-class correlation was adequate and ranged from 0.81 to 0.90 for the
fall and spring semesters of a single academic year.
Procedures
Participating schools used a team approach for instruction, in which one teacher instructed
Science and Math and the other taught English and Social Studies. This team-teaching
required students to switch classrooms twice each day to receive their lesson from the
appropriate teacher. To address this potential confounder, teams of teachers rather than
individual teachers were randomly assigned to either the treatment or control condition.
Stand-biased desks and stools were installed in the treatment classrooms before the start of
the school year and adjusted to a standard height for students’ age group. Once school
started, the furniture was adjusted to the unique height of each student.
Before data collection, 10 undergraduate research assistants were trained in the BOSS
observation protocol and scoring procedures using a standardized training protocol.
Research assistants had to achieve a 90% coding accuracy of videoed classrooms in order
to engage in live training within participating classrooms. Live observational training
served two purposes: to increase research assistants’ accuracy in observing participants’
behavior and to help the student participants with becoming acclimated to the presence of
observers. The observers were paired and assigned to a classroom team in each grade for
each school. All observers were blinded to the purpose of the study. Observations were
conducted over a 3-week period at each school. Target students were identified with the
assistance of teachers and by having students wear nametags for the first few weeks of
school. Observations were conducted twice per week in 90-min intervals in the mornings
during instructional time in the fall and spring. Each participating student was observed for
12 min on 1 day in the fall and 1 day in the spring.
Data analysis
Before performing formal statistical analysis, descriptive statistics and frequency tables
were analyzed to examine the demographic characteristics of the sample. Missing data
were then documented and examined.
Behavior performance measures are often correlated among students in the same
classroom due to the effects of shared environment, particularly the teacher. The data are
measured longitudinally for each of the variables of interest, once in the fall and once in
the spring semester. In order to account for both the nested and longitudinal nature of these
data, a random effect model (Laird and Ware 1982), also known as a hierarchical linear
model, was used to examine whether the stand-biased desks impacted students’ academic
International Journal of Health Promotion and Education 5
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engagement. The child and classroom were included in the model as random effects. The
fixed effects (covariates) include treatment assignment, time, interaction between
treatment and time, and other baseline covariates such as gender, grade level, race/
ethnicity, and their interaction with the treatment, if necessary. All data analyses were
conducted using SAS statistical software.
Results
Among the 282 participants who had behavior measurements in the fall, 158 were assigned
to the stand-biased desks (treatment group) and 124 were assigned to the traditional desks
(i.e. control group). The average total engagement score is higher for the treatment than
the control group for the fall. The mean and standard error plots for the total engaged time
(avgTotEng), for different treatment groups at fall and spring are shown in Figure 1.
The SAS procedure Proc Mixed was used for performing the main analysis, and results
are shown in Table 2. The treatment group exhibited greater levels of academic
engagement than the control group in the fall, with a statistically significant difference of
the average total engagement score of 4.21 ( p¼0.003) noted. In the spring semester, the
control group showed a greater increase in academic engagement relative to the treatment
group. Although the treatment effect on academic engagement is attenuated somewhat in
the spring, the treatment group still evidenced a greater academic engagement in the
spring, with the difference of the score being 4.21 3.49 ¼0.72. Females have an
Figure 1. The means and standard errors for the total engaged time, at different times and for
different groups.
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estimated higher academic engagement score of 2.07 ( p¼0.0007) than males. None of
the other covariates were statistically significant; however, from the estimated
coefficients, Black students exhibited lower levels of engagement than White students
with the difference being 1.61 ( p¼0.10). Hispanic students had similar scores of total
engagement relative to White students, but Asian students had a higher engagement score
of 2.04 than did White students ( p¼0.09). Second graders’ engagement score of 1.20 was
lower than third graders ( p¼0.39), and the fourth graders have a higher score of 2.28 than
third graders ( p¼0.19).
Discussion
Implications for school engagement
The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of stand-biased desks on student
classroom engagement. The findings indicate that students provided with stand-biased
desks did not decrease in their academic engagement in the classroom when compared
with their seated counterparts. The significance of this finding is twofold. First, the effects
of active classrooms on academic engagement and academic performance have been
largely unexamined until now; thus, this research makes an important contribution to the
existing knowledge base. Second, the results of this study document that the use of stand-
biased desks in classrooms does not seem to disrupt students’ level of engagement,
allowing schools to address childhood obesity and energy expenditure without negatively
academic performance. The study suggests that stand-biased desks do not create a
distraction in the classroom with elementary school children, which extends the findings of
Koepp et al. research (Koepp et al. 2012).
Limitations and future directions
Although careful consideration was given to the study design, results of this study should
be evaluated in the context of study limitations. First, the student participants represented
three grade levels from three schools in one suburban school district. While the
participating schools were demographically diverse, additional research should examine
effects in more rural and more metropolitan schools to enhance the generalizability of the
findings. Second, students were observed for 2 days. Although it is possible that observing
Table 2. Results from mixed effect model examining the effects of covariates on the total engaged
time.
Covariate Coefficient SE P-value
Intercept 36.55 1.36 ,0.0001
Treat 4.21 1.40 0.003
Time 4.70 0.87 ,0.0001
Treat*time 23.49 1.16 0.003
Female 2.07 0.61 0.0007
Black 21.61 0.98 0.10
Hispanic 20.18 1.03 0.86
Asian 2.04 1.18 0.09
Grade 2 21.20 1.40 0.39
Grade 4 2.28 1.73 0.19
Note: White students are the reference group for racial/ethnic analyses.
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students for this period may not have fully captured students’ engagement behavior, this
length of observation is common for clinical practice. However, future research should
examine students’ engagement over time and for longer intervals in order to be sure the
level of engagement assessed provides an accurate reflection of student’s academic
engagement in class.
Conclusion
In conclusion, these findings yield promising results surrounding the use of stand-biased
desks in elementary classrooms in that these desks do not appear to adversely affect
students’ academic engagement. Given research that suggests that stand-biased desks
might be useful in combating childhood obesity, school health professionals might want to
consider the incorporation of these desks in elementary classrooms to increase the physical
health of students while also enhancing learning.
Human subjects approval statement
This study was approved by the Texas A&M Institutional Review Board and the review
board of the participating school district.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
Research reported in this publication was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health [Award
Number R21HD068841]. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not
necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
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... Data suggest that around 60% to 65% of a child's waking hours are spent sedentary, either in school or at home, and with advances in technology and environmental changes, sedentary behavior is becoming more prevalent [28][29][30][31][32]. The use of standing desks in classroom settings has been shown to facilitate learning, improve attention, working memory, and cognitive flexibility in children without [33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]]. Yet to our knowledge, no studies have examined the effect of standing on EF in children with ADHD. ...
... Previous studies have not examined the effects of standing desks on EF in children with ADHD; however, improvement in inhibition and cognitive flexibility/shifting in children without ADHD has been reported after standing at a desk for 20 to 60 min [28][29][30][31]33,35,36,40,56]. Although inhibition and cognitive flexibility were not significnatly improved after standing, the trends observed appear to be in line with previous research that examined standing desks and EF in children without ADHD [28,29,33,[35][36][37]39,40]. ...
... Previous studies have not examined the effects of standing desks on EF in children with ADHD; however, improvement in inhibition and cognitive flexibility/shifting in children without ADHD has been reported after standing at a desk for 20 to 60 min [28][29][30][31]33,35,36,40,56]. Although inhibition and cognitive flexibility were not significnatly improved after standing, the trends observed appear to be in line with previous research that examined standing desks and EF in children without ADHD [28,29,33,[35][36][37]39,40]. Additionally, the trends observed appear to be in accordance with findings that suggest that PA could serve as a mechanism by which to promote more cerebral blood flow [6,8,9]. ...
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Children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) struggle with executive functioning (EF). While physical activity (PA) benefits EF, little is known about the impact of specific activities like standing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of performing a rigorous experimental study to compare the effects of walking and standing on EF in children with ADHD. Six areas of feasibility were assessed: recruitment, randomization, treatment adherence, retention, acceptability of the intervention, and implementation. A randomized pilot study using three parallel conditions compared the effects of two modes of activity on EF in children 6–11 with ADHD. While there were no significant differences between walking and standing for EF, analyses suggest that it is feasible to compare effects of standing vs. walking on EF among children with ADHD. This study supports the feasibility of undertaking a larger scale study to evaluate the effect of standing on EF in children with ADHD.
... ex. les assisses, l'éclairage) favoriseraient le bienêtre et la réussite à l'école ainsi que la concentration en classe (Barrett et al., 2019 ;Dornhecker et al., 2015). Il est également connu que la mobilisation de pratiques pédagogiques basées sur l'autorégulation et la métacognition (Cartier, 2019 ;Noël et Cartier, 2016) et centrées sur les besoins des élèves (Bergeron, Rousseau et Leclerc, 2011) sont sujettes à promouvoir le bien-être à l'école. ...
... In fact, limiting the meaning of physical activity to the sole objective of good health seems rather reductive. So much so that a large body of literature shows it has beneficial effects on cognitive functions, attention, concentration, memory [61][62][63][64][65] and, indirectly, on school results [66][67][68], as well as on the general well-being of children and, consequently, teachers [69]. In fact, the knowledge base derived from research data provided by neuroscience suggests that physical activity has the potential to encourage the brain to function at its optimal level of capacity, thus promoting the multiplication of neurons and the strengthening of neuronal connections. ...
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Schools represent the ideal setting for educating children about the acquisition of active lifestyles seen not only from a health point of view but also from psycho-pedagogical and social perspectives. Based on evidence from scientific literature, there is a need to include physical activity in school routines, especially in primary schools, where the habits learned by children stay with them in their later years and adulthood. With the support of the school medicine service, schools become a favorable context for planning health education sessions aimed at students, with particular reference to prevention. Within teaching, it is necessary to consider the motor area as a fundamental tool for acquiring correct lifestyles, facilitating cognitive development, inclusiveness, and psycho-emotional and socio-relational factors. Schools can play a fundamental role, becoming the key to promoting physical activity at different times of the day, such as during class hours (with active breaks), during breaks, before and after lessons, and by integrating movement into teaching. This review is the result of an in-depth overview of the available literature on the relationship of schools with health and health promotion from a preventive perspective, with awareness of how the issue is being approached and the need for further future reflections that will go hand in hand with the coming changes.
... 8 There is some evidence that breaking up sedentary time may improve cognitive outcomes in children. 9 In Australia, only 26% of children aged 5-12 years meet the government recommendation of at least 1 hour of moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity (MVPA) every day. 10 As part of the Australian 24-hour movement guidelines for children and young people (5-17 years) which integrate physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep, it is recommended that children reduce and break up prolonged sitting throughout the day. ...
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Introduction Efficacious programmes require implementation at scale to maximise their public health impact. TransformUs is an efficacious behavioural and environmental intervention for increasing primary (elementary) school children’s (5–12 years) physical activity and reducing their sedentary behaviour within school and home settings. This paper describes the study protocol of a 5-year effectiveness–implementation trial to assess the scalability and effectiveness of the TransformUs programme. Methods and analysis A type II hybrid implementation–effectiveness trial, TransformUs is being disseminated to all primary schools in the state of Victoria, Australia (n=1786). Data are being collected using mixed methods at the system (state government, partner organisations), organisation (school) and individual (teacher, parent and child) levels. Evaluation is based on programme Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework. RE-AIM domains are being measured using a quasi-experimental, pre/post, non-equivalent group design, at baseline, 12 and 24 months. Effectiveness will be determined in a subsample of 20 intervention schools (in Victoria) and 20 control schools (in New South Wales (NSW), Australia), at baseline, 12 and 24 months. Primary outcomes include TransformUs Reach, Adoption, Implementation and organisational Maintenance (implementation trial), and children’s physical activity and sedentary time assessed using accelerometers (effectiveness trial). Secondary outcomes include average sedentary time and moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity on weekdays and during school hours, body mass index z-scores and waist circumference (effectiveness trial). Linear mixed-effects models will be fitted to compare outcomes between intervention and control participants accounting for clustering of children within schools, confounding and random effects. Ethics and dissemination The trial was approved by the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee (HEAG-H 28_2017), Victorian Department of Education, the NSW Department of Education, Australian Catholic University (2017-145R), Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools and Catholic Schools NSW. Partners, schools/teachers and parents will provide an informed signed consent form prior to participating. Parents will provide consent for their child to participate in the effectiveness trial. Findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications, scientific conferences, summary reports to schools and our partner organisations, and will inform education policy and practice on effective and sustainable ways to promote physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviours population-wide. Trial registration number Australian Clinical Trials Registration Registry (ACTRN12617000204347).
...  Développer une relation enseignant-élève de qualité (Beaudoin, 2022;Espinosa, Rousseau et St-Vincent, 2023) Tirer profit des connaissances issues de la recherche Offrir un milieu de vie accueillant pour les élèves en tenant compte de l'aménagement physique de la classe, de l'école et de la cour de récréation (CSÉ, 2020; Barrett et al., 2019;Dornhecker et al., 2015). ...
... A substantial body of evidence from classroom-based interventions shows that sit-stand desk installation is one of the effective interventions for reducing children's prolonged sitting time without affecting their academic achievement (13,14). Both, a full-desk (a sit-stand desk for every child) and partial desk allocation (limited for children to share and rotate), have provided meaningful contributions to low intensity daily PA (1,15), yet a full-desk allocation could guarantee optimal health benefits for children as they would have maximum exposure to the desks (16). ...
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In response to the all-round development of primary school children, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a blended intervention program on children's health-related outcomes of aerobic fitness, motor skills, inhibition and daytime sleepiness in classroom settings. Three experimental conditions include: (1) the “Stand + Move” group combining sit-stand desks and physical activity (PA) recess, (2) “Move” group with PA recess only, and (3) Control group (CG; normal class schedule). A total of 64 primary school children (37.5% girls and 62.5% boys, M [SD] = 9.6 [0.61], BMI mean = 17.0 ± 3.0) participated in all assessments, including aerobic fitness, motor skills, inhibitory control, and daytime sleepiness. The baseline data collection starts from January 2019, with the intervention lasting for 13 weeks and followed by post-intervention and follow up tests conducted in July and October 2019. There was a significant interaction effect on aerobic fitness [F(2,76) = 10.62, p < 0.001, η² = 0.22] after the intervention period, whereas no significant interaction was observed for other variables. Significant main effects were observed in aerobic fitness (pre – post: −11.75 and −7.22) for both experimental groups, with the blended group showing greater improvements immediately post the test, while motor skills only showed a significant increase at the three-month follow-up, with the greatest increase in the blended group (pre-follow-up: −2.50). For inhibition control and daytime sleepiness, better improvements were shown for the experimental groups than for the control group. The blended designed intervention, by incorporating multiple components as an innovative strategy to reconstruct children's traditional classroom environment in Hong Kong, has demonstrated improved physical and psychological development of school children. Clinical trial registration ChiCTR, ChiCTR2000035038. Registered 29 July 2020 – Retrospectively registered. http://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.aspx?id=46038.
Article
Objective Standing desks present a novel approach to reduce sedentary time in the classroom and address cardiovascular risk factors at an early age. In the context of designing a standing desk study, parents and children were surveyed regarding their perceptions and current use of standing desks and other flexible seating. Methods Survey administered from January 31st to February 26th, 2024 to a convenience cohort of 50 parent–child pairs presenting for well or acute care at a pediatrics clinic affiliated with an academic institution (Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States). Logistic regression examined parent support of and child willingness to use a standing desk in the classroom. Results Parents were primarily non-Hispanic, white females above 40 years of age. Child participants mean age and grade level were 10.5 years and 5th grade respectively. Among parents, 85 % (39/46) were supportive of their child’s use of a standing desk in the classroom, with 4 declining to answer. For children, almost half, 48 % (24/50), were willing to use a standing desk. Acceptability decreased for child body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile versus BMI <85th percentile (parent acceptability OR = 0.07 [95 % CI: 0.01–0.63; p = 0.018]; child acceptability: OR = 0.13 [95 % CI 0.03–0.51, p = 0.003]). Conclusions Most parents and children are amenable to use of a standing desk in the classroom. Additional information for children with elevated BMI and their parents may be required to address reservations about standing. This study was limited by its small sample size, which may not generalize to other populations.
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Background: Little is known about the impact of an ecological dynamics (ED) intervention (EDI) on primary school children's physical literacy and well-being in the Hong Kong context. The aim of this project is to introduce a physical literacy and well-being framework through an EDI that allows primary school children to develop good physical activity (PA) and daily behavioural habits. Methods and analysis: A four-arm (cluster) randomised controlled trial will be conducted to examine the effect of EDI on physical literacy and well-being in primary schools located in each of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. Four classes in senior primary students (grade 4) at each school will be randomly assigned to the four different conditions. These participating schools will be equipped with sit-stand desks, PA recess facility and equipment, and sleep pillows. The research team will adopt both objective measures (aerobic fitness, fundamental movement skills, daily behaviour-physical activity and cognitive function) and self-reported measures (perceived physical literacy, quality of life, sleep quality) covering the elements and domains of physical literacy and well-being to examine the effects of EDIs at four time points, including baseline assessment, 3 months after intervention, postintervention and 3-month follow-up assessment. One-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) will be used to test for differences in the baseline characteristics of participants between groups. Repeated measure ANOVAs and MANCOVA, with time (baseline, after intervention and follow-up) as within-subjects factor, and intervention group as between-subjects factors, will be used to evaluate the effects of different interventions on the students' physical literacy and well-being. A Bonferonni correction to the p value will be calculated to adjust for multiple tests. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval was sought from the Joint CUHK-NTEC Clinical Research Ethics Committee in Hong Kong (CREC Ref.No.:2024.027). The finding of this study will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journals, international conference presentations and academic lectures. For secondary analysis of the data, please contact the corresponding author for permission. Trial registration number: ISRCTN84025914.
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Recent approaches to combating the childhood obesity epidemic emphasize the health consequences of prolonged physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors that occur throughout the school day. The purpose of this study was to determine if Energy Expenditure (EE) is significantly increased in children who use standing height desks throughout the school day versus using traditional school desks. Nine children between the ages of 6 and 8 completed two consecutive five-month trials at a local elementary school. For the first trial, the participants’ classroom (19 total children), used traditional sit-down desks for the duration of the fall semester. Over the holiday break, the entire classroom was converted to stand-biased desks. To measure differences in EE, each participant wore a BodyBugg activity monitor (BodyMedia, Inc) during the school day for one week in the fall and one week in the spring. Along with EE, the activity monitors also observed how many steps each participant took throughout the day. Descriptive statistics and a linear mixed effect model were used to determine EE differences within subjects between sitting and standing behaviors. Mean steps from the fall and spring semesters were also compared within subjects. The analysis indicated a statistically significant difference (p < .0001) in EE when the children used stand-biased desks versus traditional sit-down desks.
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Background: Research shows that students who are more active throughout the day have fewer reports of body part discomfort and greater energy expenditure needed to combat childhood obesity. Many factors may contribute to the overall health of the child, including the postures that are required to complete assigned tasks at their school workstations. Decreasing sedentary behaviors in children through the use of standing desks at school has been shown to increase calorie expenditure and may be a viable approach to the energy imbalance typical of modern children. The objective of this research was to quantify and analyze sub-optimal postures and self-reported discomfort of students during the use of traditional seated and standbiased desks to determine whether any unintended consequences of the intervention were present. Methods: A postural analysis based on the Portable Ergonomic Observation (PEO) method was used to assess the posture of 42 elementary school students as they worked at their assigned workstation (either standing or seated). Two classrooms contained stand-biased workstations (15 students) and two classrooms had traditional seated workstations (27 students). Each student was assessed three times at 10 minutes, for a total of 30 minutes of observations each. The percent of time spent in preferred versus non-preferred postures was then computed. Student body part discomfort surveys were used to assess the discomfort of students between the two groups. The relationship between type of workstation and percent time in non-preferred postures and body discomfort was examined using Wilcoxon ranksum tests and Fisher’s exact tests, respectively. The significance level was p ≤ 0.05 for all of the two-sided tests. Results: No significant difference was found between the two groups and time spent in non-preferred postures and body discomfort, children using stand-biased workstations reported less discomfort overall. Standbiased desks presented no additional ergonomic issues, while providing increased caloric expenditure. Conclusions: A study containing a larger sample and older children that includes postural observation throughout the school day is needed for future research.
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Background. In this pilot study, the authors aimed to examine the implementation of standing desks on classroom performance and behavior. They also examined how the standing desks affected in-class physical activity and body mass index. Methods. Eight sixth graders from Hope Lutheran elementary school participated in the study (age 11.3 ± 0.5 years). Baseline and 8-month postintervention measures were step counts using (W4L Classic pedometers), height, weight, and behavioral markers. Results. Data showed that there were no statistically significant changes in the participants’ body mass index (19.4 kg/m2 vs 19.3 kg/m2), step counts (1886 steps vs 2248 steps), and behavioral markers including classroom management, concentration, and discomfort. Height and weight changes were significant and are attributed to the normal growth rate associated with the age of the participants (146.8 cm vs 151.8 cm, P < .0001; 41.4 kg vs 44.5 kg, P > .0007). Conclusions. It is feasible to integrate standing desks into a classroom without negative effects. Although the authors observed over a 19% increase in pedometer activity, it was not statistically significant. This highlights the importance for larger experimental groups and the use of more advanced physical activity tracking and body composition technologies.
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Three field experiments were conducted to determine the effects of different recess timing regimens on children’s classroom and recess behaviors. Experiment 1 involved children in Grades K, 2, and 4. The timing of their recess was experimentally varied by 30 minutes. Students’ classroom behavior before and after recess was observed as was their outdoor recess behavior. Children’s prerecess inattention varied as a function of deprivation duration. Further, children, but especially boys, were more socially interactive on the playground following the long deprivation, compared to the short deprivation. Recess behaviors did not relate significantly to postrecess inattention. However, inattention rates were higher before recess than after. Experiment 2 utilized a similar paradigm with a sample of second and fourth graders from the same school. Experiment 2, generally, replicated results from Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, which utilized a replication sample design, children s recess was also manipulated, but the recess period was indoors. Results of the two samples replicated each other and the preceding experiments. Results are discussed in terms of play deprivation theory and massed versus distributed practice.
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This chapter reveals a methodology of assessing basic academic skills focused on problem solving that has been designed to evaluate a student's skills and performance that is linked to intervention development and that can be used dynamically to show responsiveness to instructional intervention. It introduces the reader to the concepts of curriculum-based assessment (CBA) and describes how these strategies are being used in the assessment of basic skill development of elementary students. CBA has increasingly become a staple of the assessment process for students referred in schools for academic skills problems. The methodology draws on the foundations of behavioral assessment methodology and emphasizes measures that are frequent, repeatable, direct, and focused on the development and evaluation of instructional intervention. Use of graphic analysis is critical to interpretation. The data are useful for multiple purposes of assessment, including screening, eligibility determination, instructional development, and program evaluation. Although the measures are not designed to replace the use of published, norm-referenced achievement tests, the purposes of CBA meet the important philosophical function of being closely linked to intervention.
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Childhood obesity has grown into a national epidemic since the 1980s. Many school-based intervention efforts that target childhood obesity involve curriculum and programming that demands instructional time, which disincentivizes school participation. Stand-biased classrooms are an environmental intervention that promotes standing rather than sitting by utilizing standing height desks that allow students to stand during normal classroom activities. The quasi-experimental pilot study was conducted in 5 first-grade classrooms in a Texas elementary school, with 2 control classrooms, 2 treatment classrooms, and 1 classroom that was a control in the fall and treatment in the spring (to allow for within-group comparisons). This intervention has been shown effective in significantly increasing caloric expenditure. In addition, the present study reveals potential behavioral effects from standing. This article presents lessons learned from the pilot study that may prove useful for others implementing similar interventions and calls for additional research on the academic benefits of standing for students.
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We examined the effectiveness of a tactile self-monitoring prompt to increase on-task behaviors among 3 elementary-aged students in a special education classroom. Students were taught to self-monitor their attention by using the MotivAider (MotivAider, 2000), an electronic beeper that vibrates to provide a tactile cue to self-monitor. An ABAB reversal design was used for each participant. Results indicated that upon implementation of the self-monitoring intervention, students increased on-task behavior from a mean of 55% to more than 90% of the intervals observed. Additionally, teachers and students provided high ratings of treatment acceptability of this self-monitoring intervention. Limitations, implications, and future directions of these findings are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 211–221, 2006.
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Academic enablers have been defined as attitudes and behaviors that facilitate students' participation in, and benefit from, academic instruction in the classroom (J.C. DiPerna & S.N. Elliott, 2000). The purpose of this article is to provide practitioners with an overview of specific academic enablers (motivation, study skills, engagement, and social skills) and their relationships with academic achievement. In addition, a practical framework is provided for considering academic enablers within assessment and intervention practices in the schools. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Psychol Schs 43: 7–17, 2006.