Physical Activity and Self-efficacy in Physical Activity and Healthy Eating in an Urban Elementary Setting

Abstract

Background: Identifying lifestyle factors such as physical activity (PA) patterns and eating behaviors of children may be beneficial in implementing interventions in urban elementary schools. Purpose: To examine PA levels and self-efficacy (SE) in PA and health eating (HE) of third, fourth, and fifth graders in 3 low economic elementary schools in an urban setting. Method: Students (N = 295) were administered SE in PA and HE inventories and given Omron HJ7201TC pedometers. Results: Girls had significantly (P .05) differences existed for gender (girls: 5732.38 ± 3267.16 steps/day; boys: 6050.59 ± 3564.21 steps/day) or grade level (third: 6486.23 ± 3282.34 steps/day; fourth: 5605.74 ± 3381.45 steps/day; fifth: 5617.51 ± 3513.54 steps/day). A significant positive relationship was found for goal setting for PA and SWKEND (r = − 0.178, P = .033). In addition, significant relationships existed for transport questions, specifically, goal setting for PA was positively related to the number of times walking to school (r = 0.142, P = .036) and decision making for PA was negatively related to the number of times a student took the bus per week (r = − 0.139, P = 0.33). Translation to Health Education Practice: An urban setting may influence the amount of PA due to accessibility and opportunities to engage in PA.