Physical activity and sedentary behaviour during outdoor learning and traditional indoor school days among Finnish primary school students

Jan-Erik Romar, Ida Enqvist, Janne Kulmala, Jouni Kallio, Tuija Tammelin

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In this study, we aimed at comparing Finnish primary school students’physical activity and sedentary time during outdoor-learning and traditional school days. Outdoor learning is defined as purposeful andplanned learning experiences in the outdoors . The study populationconsisted 20 students in grades 1–6 at one primary school. Physicalactivity was measured objectively by hip-worn accelerometers. Theamounts of physical activity and sedentary time were compared for thesame students between five school days with outdoor learning and fourtraditional school days. The study’s main findings show that, movingfrom traditional classroom teaching to an outdoor-learning environmentdecreases students’ sedentary time and increases light- and moderateintensity physical activity during the school day. No differences wereobserved in leisure-time physical activity on school days with or withoutoutdoor learning. Thus, outdoor learning is an effective complement totraditional classroom teaching in promoting physically active children

Original languageUndefined/Unknown
Pages (from-to)28–42
JournalJournal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning
Volume19
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

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