Benefits of Exercise for Children Tested

5

Study Limitations

Despite the absence of an ability to influence dietary intake during the course of the study, the regular physical activity had measurable results in endurance performance and blood chemistry profiles, if not uniformly across all Study Groups. Results were very significant in some individuals, especially those most at-risk. However, during the course of conducting the Test Protocol, we identified some shortcomings which need to be addressed when it is used again:

While measurable improvements in both cardiovascular endurance and blood chemistry profiles were recorded in the short five weeks of the program, significantly longer study periods should be used in the future. Longer periods are expected to show greater improvements in all the measures taken. Also, greater differences between Study-Control group performances would be expected if the study period were conducted during the Winter (this study was conducted in late Spring), when children are generally less active, barring an in-school PE program.
Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) was not addressed as part of the blood analysis. As a marker of possible metabolic abnormality, it would have been an additional, useful indicator of risk.
Students using HRM's must be given adequate training before using them the first time. They must also have sufficient experience using them while running and otherwise physically active before data obtained from them is used for testing or evaluation purposes.
Heart rate transmitters, which fit around the chest, are generally too large for use by many third grade students. These students, once they learn to keep them fitted properly, use the HRM technology enthusiastically.
The reliability of subjects using the individual lap count feature on their heart rate monitors when running a course consisting of short laps:

Using the HRM lap feature proved unreliable as children could press the lap button more than once after each completed lap.
Handing out tokens of some kind (straws were used in this study) to count laps is more reliable, but more cumbersome.

Motivation of the Control Groups, especially that of the 6th Grade, seemed variable.

Some individuals apparently resented being randomized to the Control group.
In some, the pre- and post-program endurance run effort was limited as a protest.
In others, a supreme effort was forthcoming, presumably to "prove a point."

Time constraints led to rushing procedures and some mistakes in anthropometric data collection.

The possibility of uniformly calculating BMI was lost as some children were
mistakenly measured wearing shoes during baseline data collection.

A time delay in 6th Grade baseline blood draw:

Due to an extended period needed for the 3rd Grade baseline blood draw, the baseline blood draw of the 6th Grade was not commenced until mid-morning and completed late-morning, on a chilly day. This resulted in peripheral blood vessel constriction, blood draw difficulties, and perhaps skewed blood profiles due to over-long fasting periods.
The problem was resolved in the second blood draw by moving the 6th Grade blood draw time to 8:30 am on a different day from the 3rd Grade.

An inability to collect blood pressure data due to equipment failure.
There is research data to indicate that relying solely on an exercise regimen, without any concurrent dietary modification, blunts the degree of change in biometric outcomes and anthropometric measures15,16. To have been able to intervene in prevailing dietary
practices would almost certainly have favorably influenced outcomes.

Acknowledgements

We want to acknowledge and thank the students, parents, organizations and people
who made this study possible.

Sponsors: The major contributions of these organizations were the key to its success.

Polar Electro, Inc.:
Philippe Duleyrie, President
Anne Flannery, President, PE4Life
Beth Kirkpatrick, National Spokesperson
Sylvia Hom, Director of Marketing, Business to Business
Jess Biggs, Polar HealthFirst, Training

Iasis Healthcare Corporation:
Dave Jones, President, Utah Market
Bryanie Swilley, CEO, Jordan Valley Hospital
Jodi DeJong, Hospital Services Representative, Jordan Valley Hospital

Jordan School District:
Dr. Barry Newbold, Superintendent
Julie Christofferson, District PE Coordinator

Silver Mesa Elementary:
Denise Orme, Principal
Kay Clark, Meg Denton, Sheila McDonald; 3rd Grade Teachers
Laura Omana, Kathy Woody, April Humphries; 6th Grade Teachers

Early Sport Foundation:
Nick Smith, Vice President of Research
Dr. Tom Owen, Education Consultant
Laura Gontchar, Project Coordinator; Ian Jentzsch, Staff Assistant

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