Identifying Beneficial Physical Activity During School Recess: Utility and Feasibility of the Fitbit

The purpose of the current study was to assess the utility, feasibility, and reliability of Fitbit accelerometers to measure physical activity (via steps) of 15 young children simultaneously during recess. Fitbit-recorded steps per minute (SPM) were used as the primary measure to assess levels of activity in children playing in various structured (i.e., instructed) and unstructured (i.e., free play) recess activities. The results suggested that the number of steps measured by two Fitbits resulted in high levels of agreement, and the Fitbits were successful at identifying differential levels of activity across multiple types of play activities. Across all children, running or walking was associated with the most SPM (M = 89) and highest percentage of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; M = 47%), followed by soccer (M = 58 SPM; M = 12% MVPA), free play (M = 53 SPM; 3% MVPA), and tag (M = 43 SPM; 7% MVPA). The utility of the Fitbit’s minute-by-minute data records was demonstrated, with the use of additional third-party software by Python, as differential levels of physical activity associated with various play behaviors were detected, and all 15 participants were assessed simultaneously with very few observers.