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Physiological Effects of the BOKS Before-School Physical Activity Program for Preadolescent Youth
Authors: Wayne L. Westcott*, Kim Puhala, Amanda Colligan, Rita LaRosa Loud and Robert Cobbett4
Number of views: 515
Approximately 30% of elementary school children are
overweight or obese, and approximately 50% do not meet the
minimum recommendations for physical activity. In an attempt
to address these issues, an innovative before-school exercise
program called BOKS (Build Our Kid’s Success) was introduced in
Massachusetts, and is presently implemented in more than 1,200
schools throughout the United States and other countries. The BOKS
program provides 50 minutes of large muscle physical activity, 3
days a week, performed through a variety of locomotor movements,
running games, relays, body weight exercises, and dynamic stretches.
The purpose of this study was to assess 81 BOKS physical activity
program participants (46 males, 35 females; mean age 7.6 years)
and 31 control subjects (24 males, 7 females; mean age 8.7 years)
for changes in height, bodyweight, percent body fat, fat weight, lean
weight, muscle strength, joint flexibility, and aerobic performance
before and after a 9-week training period. Even when controlling for
gender, age, and baseline measurements, the exercise group attained
significantly greater improvements (P < 0.05) than the control
group in percent body fat, fat weight, and aerobic performance. It
was concluded that the BOKS before-school exercise program was
effective for improving specific health and fitness components in
elementary-aged children. Recommendations for improving the
exercise program outcomes were presented.
Keywords: Youth fitness; Preadolescent exercise; Children’s
physical activity program