The role of multistation exercises in physical activity exposure during a curricular primary school lesson: a pilot study

Background: The benefits of physical activity on primary school children are well reported. Nevertheless, the percentage of children meeting the minimum daily amount of recommended moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) declines continuously. Many countries worldwide promote projects in primary schools to sensibilise children to physical activity to fight against this phenomenon. However, most of the interventions focused on the available time dedicated to physical activity and not on the quality of time usage. Thus, this study aimed to identify the role of exercise set-up on the actual time spent by active moving during PA intervention using the "multistation exercise" method. Methods: Twenty children from the third grade of a primary school were recruited to perform 60 minutes of extra-curricular PA intervention. Children performed three different exercise formats, and active time spent by moving or exercising was calculated by video recording the intervention. Results: The final sample size was 12 primary school children (weight 26.83 ± 4.26 kg; height 125.83 ± 6.07 cm, BMI 16.87 ± 1.804 kg/m2 ). The mean active time spent moving or exercising was 50.75 ± 6.46 seconds in the one-station format and 100.13 ± 10.78 seconds in the two-station format, and 148.71 ± 7.26 seconds in the four-stations format. Repeated measure ANOVA showed a significant solid difference among the three formats (p<0.001). Bonferroni Post Hoc showed a considerable difference between one and two workstation formats (p< 0.001; +97% of active time), between two and four workstation forms (p<0.001; +49% of active time) and between one and four workstation set-ups (p<0.001; +193% of active time). Conclusions: The multistation exercise method may be an excellent opportunity to optimise PA intervention in primary school children.