The Effects of the LiiNK Intervention on Physical Activity and Obesity Rates among Children.

Background: Obesity and inactivity among children are at an all-time high and have been steadily increasing in prevalence over the last thirty years. The school environment provides the ideal setting for reaching a large number of children across diverse populations in order to reverse these trends. However, there are many inconsistent results yielded by school-based physical activity interventions due to implementation length, time for activities, and the use of structured physical activities.

A Pilot Study Examining Body Composition Classification Differences Between Body Mass Index and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis in Children With High Levels of Physical Activity.

Body mass index (BMI) is frequently labeled as "flawed" in assessing obesity since it cannot differentiate between muscle and fat leading to misclassifications of healthy individuals. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) may be a more accurate indicator of obesity since it can distinguish the difference between muscle and fat in children. This pilot study investigated discrepancies between BMI and BIA body composition classifications in children with high levels of physical activity.

The Preliminary Effects of a Multi-Recess School Intervention: Using Accelerometers to Measure Physical Activity Patterns in Elementary Children.

This pilot study used accelerometers to investigate the effectiveness of a multiple recess school intervention on physical activity patterns in younger elementary children using a post-test only with nonequivalent groups design. First and second grade students ( = 157) participating in a larger study, the LiiNK Project (Let's inspire innovation 'N Kids), wore accelerometers for the duration of the school day for two weeks to measure physical activity intensity and number of steps taken daily. Students attended either an intervention school ( = 90), participating in four 15-min unstructured, outdoor recesses and one 15-min character development lesson daily, or a control school ( = 67), participating in two 15-min unstructured, outdoor recesses daily and no character development program.