Effects of extension of the Youth Fit For Life intervention program by video vs. instructor supervision.

Objective: Youth Fit For Life is a physical activity intervention program administered during after-school care that has been tested in the U.S. and Canada. It has demonstrated reliable improvements in body composition, endurance, and strength in children ages 5-12 years. The aim of this research was to contrast any additional improvements associated with extensions of the program with other physical activity modalities during its off days. Design: Two types of physical activity modalities - instructor-supervised physical activity (n=121) and the HopSports video-based exercise system (n=171) - were administered to children (Mage =7.3 years) for 2 days/week during their after-school care as a supplement to the existing 3-day/week, 45-minute/session Youth Fit For Life program. Results: Mixed-model repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated statistically significant within-group improvements over 12 weeks in body mass index (BMI), distance covered in a 6-minute walk/run test, and number of push-ups completed in 1 minute, in both groups. There were no significant differences in improvements between the 2 groups, and effect sizes were similar to research incorporating Youth Fit For Life alone. When data from subsamples of overweight and obese children were evaluated, only BMI scores significantly improved—again with no difference by group. Greater effect sizes for BMI change were found in children who were overweight and obese. Conclusion: No short-term benefits from the supplementation of the Youth Fit For Life intervention program by either video-based or instructor-supervised physical activity were identified. Future research should test extensions of the existing curriculum in other ways to improve effects.