Physiological Effects of the BOKS Before-School Physical Activity Program for Preadolescent Youth

Approximately 30% of elementary school children are overweight or obese, and approximately 50% do not meet the minimum recommendations for physical activity. In an attempt to address these issues, an innovative before-school exercise program called BOKS (Build Our Kid’s Success) was introduced in Massachusetts, and is presently implemented in more than 1,200 schools throughout the United States and other countries. The BOKS program provides 50 minutes of large muscle physical activity, 3 days a week, performed through a variety of locomotor movements, running games, relays, body weight exercises, and dynamic stretches. The purpose of this study was to assess 81 BOKS physical activity program participants (46 males, 35 females; mean age 7.6 years) and 31 control subjects (24 males, 7 females; mean age 8.7 years) for changes in height, bodyweight, percent body fat, fat weight, lean weight, muscle strength, joint flexibility, and aerobic performance before and after a 9-week training period. Even when controlling for gender, age, and baseline measurements, the exercise group attained significantly greater improvements (P < 0.05) than the control group in percent body fat, fat weight, and aerobic performance. It was concluded that the BOKS before-school exercise program was effective for improving specific health and fitness components in elementary-aged children. Recommendations for improving the exercise program outcomes were presented.