Via Research Recognition Day 2024 VCOM-Carolinas

Educational Reports

The Effect of Physical Movement on Nutrition Education Through the PLAY Program Mariam Aamir OMS-II, Priyanka Arunkumar OMS-I, Sarah Radziewicz OMS-II, Alexis M. Stoner PhD, MPH, David Redden Co-author Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine - Carolinas, Spartanburg, S.C .

Introduction

Results

Conclusions

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern, with nearly 33.7% of children in Spartanburg County, SC classified as obese or overweight 5 . Evidence has shown that eating patterns during childhood influence development and the risk of chronic diseases later in life 1 . As many children consume most of their meals at school, schools are in a unique position to promote healthy eating and lifestyle changes 2 . Although there is an abundance of evidence that increasing nutrition awareness can increase knowledge of healthy eating for students, there has been a lack of research into the proper implementation of this education. The mission of the Promoting Lifelong Activity in Youth (PLAY) program is “ to provide children with the knowledge needed to understand and appreciate the health benefits of exercise, to cultivate a positive self-image that facilitates a desire to make healthy life choices, and to teach children fun, safe, and creative activities that will empower them to solidify their commitment to lifelong wellness”. This study utilized the PLAY program to assess the effectiveness of integrating physical activity into nutrition education to enhance students’ knowledge of healthy eating. ❑ The methodology included two groups of kindergarten classes: an interventional and control which were randomly assigned based on scheduling. ❑ In both groups the first session began with a pre-aptitude test formulated to assess the nutritional knowledge for elementary school-aged children. ❑ The pre-aptitude test was followed by four sessions of nutritional education encompassing: healthy vs unhealthy foods, macronutrients, healthy drinks, and forming a balanced meal. ❑ The interventional group took part in movement-based lessons, while the control group had sedentary lessons. ❑ The four sessions concluded with a post-aptitude test for both groups which consisted of the same five initial questions with the fifth being comprehensive. ❑ Statistical analysis involved descriptive statistics for all outcome measures by group (Sedentary or Physical) and time (Time 1, Time 2). We calculated the sample mean to measure location and sample SD to measure dispersion. To test for group differences, we used Fisher’s Exact for Yes/No outcomes and the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test for ordinal/semi-continuous scores. To test for group differences in magnitude of change, we used Breslow- Day’s test for dichotomous variables and non-parametric regression for ordinal and semi-continuous scores.All analyses were conducted in SAS 9.4 and used a Type I error rate of 0.05. Methods

The PLAY program provides a great avenue for nutritional education. Past studies have shown that U.S students receive less than 8 hours of required nutrition education each school year 3 .By allowing for physical education class to be another medium for students to receive nutritional education this could allow for increased knowledge of healthy eating. Both groups in our study that received the nutritional program showed a statistical increase from average total pre-test score to post-test score demonstrating an efficacious nutritional education program. The uniqueness of this study is that it not only looked at the efficacy of the program but also compared learning by movement compared to a sedentary setting. The physical movement class had a higher average on the post-test compared to the sedentary class. Specifically, question 5 showed a significant increase in posttest score for the physically active group compared to the sedentary group. There were no other statistical differences found for other questions which could be because of small sample size and issues with scheduling volunteers to help administer the aptitude tests. Past studies have shown that exercise boosts brain function, facilitates cognition, and students who are more physically active show higher academic performance 4 .By integrating physical movement into the curriculum, students will not only perform better academically but also have healthier lifestyles. This study demonstrated that the lack of time dedicated to nutritional education can possibly be curbed by integrating this program into physical education class. The combination of teaching with physical movement and allocating more time to nutrition education within in a setting that already promotes physical health can be a great opportunity to optimize the health and education of students. Further studies need to be done to evaluate whether these results translate to other grade levels and which specific physical movements increase learning to the highest degree. However, this study provides a solid basis for increasing nutritional education, promoting physical movement, and improving the health of students.

Figure 1. Group Score Means Over Time. Differences in Magnitude of Change (p=0.1978) An increase in average total score from the pre-test was noted when compared to the post-test for both groups, with the physical activity class having a higher increase.

Table 1. Sample Mean and Standard Deviations by Group and Time. The total score showed a significant increase from pre-test to post-test for both groups.

References

š

Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine Institutional Review Board, Blacksburg, VA, Record #: 2023-169, Approval date 11/07/2023 We would like to acknowledge David Redden for Statistical analysis. We wish to thank Meeting Street Academy and specifically, Jon Scharpenberg and Meaghan Tolson for their important contributions to this project.

Figure 2. Question 5 Comprehensive Question Score Differences . Question 5 showed the most significant p-value from pre-test to post-test for both groups (p<0.0001). The physical activity group demonstrated a statistically significant higher score for question 5 compared to the sedentary group.

93

2024 Research Recognition Day