# Teacher vs. remotely delivered classroom physical activity breaks

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $577,951

## Abstract

7. Project Summary/Abstract
Only 43% of children in the U.S., ages 6-11 yrs., meet current moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA,
4-6 METs, 300 min/wk.) guidelines. The CDC, in collaboration with the Society for Health and Physical
Educators, recommends Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAP), which target physical
education (PE), PA before, during and after school, staff, and family and community involvement to increase
moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in children. However, the magnitude of the effect of the CSPAP
approach on MVPA is small to moderate at best. The lack of effectiveness may be due in part to the cost and
difficulty of implementing this complex strategy, and the trend towards decreasing time for PE, which is a
cornerstone of the CSPAP approach. To satisfy MVPA requirements of School Wellness Policies, schools
have incorporated classroom MVPA, in the form of activity breaks, or MVPA integrated into academic lessons.
However, survey data indicates only ~22% of elementary schools in the U.S. use activity breaks with ~10
min/day of MVPA. We completed two, 3 academic-yr. cluster randomized trials (DK61489, DK85317) which
involved increasing MVPA in the classroom we called “Physical Activity Across the Curriculum” (PAAC).
Elementary school classroom teachers were trained to deliver two, 10-min academic lessons incorporating
MVPA each day over 3 yrs. to students in grades 2 and 3 at baseline. Across 3-yrs. teachers in PAAC schools
delivered ~60 min/wk. (12 min/day) of MVPA. Although short of our MVPA goal (20 min/d), the 12 min/day
achieved represents 40% of the recommended 30 min of MVPA during the school day, and is ≥ MVPA
delivered in 3 typical PE classes/wk. Thus, the PAAC approach has demonstrated the potential for
substantially increased in-school MVPA elementary schools. Teacher reluctance to devote additional time to
develop and integrate physically active lessons into their curriculum was the overwhelming barrier to meeting
the MVPA goal. Therefore, to reduce barriers to delivery of classroom MVPA we developed a series of pre-
recorded activity breaks (PAAC-R, ~10 min MVPA), conducted by an experienced physical educator, that can
be delivered remotely to classrooms via the internet and displayed on a flat screen monitor. Results from a
recently completed 4-wk pilot trial in 3 elementary school classrooms (grades 2,3,4) using these remotely
delivered activity breaks indicated 10 min of MVPA (accelerometer) was achieved in 100% of sessions in
grades 2 and 3, and 97.5% of sessions in grade 4. The proposed 3 academic yr. cluster randomized trial (2
yrs. active intervention, 1 yr. follow-up) will compare the effectiveness and sustainability of remotely delivered
(PAAC-R) and classroom teacher delivered (PAAC-T) activity breaks for increasing classroom MVPA in
elementary school students in grades 2 and 3 at baseline who will progress to grades 4-5.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10352436
- **Project number:** 5R01DK085317-11
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Joseph E. Donnelly
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $577,951
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2010-04-01 → 2024-02-29

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10352436

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10352436, Teacher vs. remotely delivered classroom physical activity breaks (5R01DK085317-11). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10352436. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*