Date of Award

5-1-2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Health, Physical Education and Recreation

First Advisor

Dr. Michael Messerole

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between body mass index, daily step count, and television viewing time in children ages 10 to 13. The study consisted of 66 female and 87 male participants with mean ages of 11.3 and 11.2, respectively. Mean scores for body mass index (BMI) were 20.2 for females and 20.4 for males. Mean television viewing time for both genders was 2.5 hours/day. Males recorded a higher mean step count total than females with scores of 12,283.2 and 10,316.7, respectively. Participants in the study wore the Yamax Digi-Walker SW-200 pedometer for recording total steps taken daily. Pearson Correlation for average step count (ASC) and BMI was -.191, which was significant at the 0.05 level of significance (2-tailed). ASC and TV viewing time showed a significant correlation of -.244 at the 0.01 level of significance (2-tailed). BMI and TV viewing time showed a significant correlation of .484 at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). The results showed low to fair positive and negative correlations for the three variables. In conclusion, the SW-200 is a valid and reliable pedometer to measure step counts in a youth population. The three variables did not show strong, positive relationships when compared to each another.

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright Scott M. Ronspies May, 2006.

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