School Day Energy Expenditure in Elementary School Children

Background: The purpose was to characterize energy expenditure (EE) during academic subjects and activities during an elementary school day. Methods: Children in 2nd to 4th grades (N = 33) wore the SenseWear Armband (SWA) for 5 school days to measure EE. Teachers' logs were compared with SWA data to extract information about EE throughout the day. Energy expenditure was also compared among grades. Results: After controlling for body mass, grade level was not a significant predictor of average daily caloric expenditure, F(2, 17.58) = .29, P = .75, omega(2) = .05. When comparing activities throughout the day, relative rates of EE differed significantly, Wilks' F(7, 23) = 52.2, P = .00, eta(2)(p) = .94, with PE and recess having higher EE. When academic subjects were compared (math, science, language arts), relative rate of EE was also significantly different, Wilks' F(2, 30) = 4.31, P = .02, eta(2)(p) = .22. For the full sample, relative rate EE was higher in science than in language arts. Conclusions: The school day provides opportunity for EE for children. These data support the potential benefit of active instruction in language arts as a method to increase school day EE.