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Abstract
This study investigated how a technological intervention, HOPSports (HOPS), impacted youth physical activity (PA) in a physical education (PE) class. Research indicates rising levels of youth television watching and video game use, physical inactivity, and related overweight. One approach to increase youth PA is to use technology-based environments, a preferred setting among youth. The purpose of this research was to objectively compare the PA levels of youth engaged in HOPS-based PE classes with those engaged in traditional teacher-led classes. Activity outcomes were measured using Actigraph accelerometers. Youth (n = 387) in Grades 4 to 8 participated in a longitudinal intervention study. Youth were significantly more active, on average, when using HOPS. Findings suggest HOPS may be most effective by promoting diverse, dynamic program options that PE teachers may not otherwise select. With the possibility of increasing PE class sizes due to shrinking budgets, using HOPS may be one viable strategy to increase PA and combat rising youth obesity levels.
Diverse technologies are increasingly available, and this has prompted significant societal shifts in the United States (Nelson, Gordon-Larsen, Song, & Popkin, 2006). Included in these societal shifts are the increased use of information and technology, most notably television, digital games, and computers (Kautiainen, Koivusilta, Lintonen, Virtanen, & Rimpela, 2005). This technology has become more readily available as the price of personal computers has dropped considerably and availability to the Internet has increased. Consequently, computer access is now available to 80% of American households (Nielson Company, 2010). By increasing children's sedentary behaviors, these technological advances have changed the ways in which children interact with their environment and have become a factor in the prevalence of childhood obesity.
Innovative technologies provide children with an abundance of entertainment options involving indoor, sedentary activities (Yancey et al., 2009). Roberts, Foehr, and Rideout (2005) reported that half of U.S. children have a television on in their household most of the time. Furthermore, two thirds of children aged 8 to 18 have a television in their bedroom. Weekly screen time for children is as high as 55 hr per week, and the average home has a television on for 8 hr per day (Lanningham-Foster et al., 2006). An examination of time spent playing video games revealed that the average...