The measure for Body Mass Index (BMI) – height/weight ratio – seems to be less reliable since the measure cannot distinguish between muscle mass and fat mass for each child. Studies from other interventions have used BMI as the gold standard of measuring overweight and obese children because they hadn’t matured yet – muscle mass should be similar based on child development stages. What we are finding is that the LiiNK children may be developing more muscle mass just based on the increased physical activity and outdoor exploration daily. BMI may not be the best measure for these children even at 5-8 years of age. We are now using a bio-impedance scale in pilot studies to assess any differences between BMI and body fat/muscle mass percentages.
Over one year in the project, 14% of the LiiNK students shifted from the overweight/obese category to the healthy weight category, while only 2% of the comparison students reflected similar changes. After tracking BMI across three years, LiiNK students continued to reflect a 7% difference over the comparison students from the overweight/obese category to the healthy category.
of the LiiNK students shifted from the overweight/obese category to the healthy weight category
of the students from other schools shifted from the overweight category to the healthy weight category
Physical Activity (PA) was measured using accelerometers that students in 1st and 2nd grade wore on their wrist for a week of school. Findings show that LiiNK students are much more active and less sedentary during the school day than comparison students. LiiNK students are averaging about 1,000 more steps daily and spending about 25-minutes more of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily than comparison students.
Intervention teachers are also more active throughout the school day than comparison teachers. Attending 60-minutes of recess daily allows teachers to get about 45-minutes more active time than teachers with a traditional school schedule of mostly sitting.
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