Back education in elementary schoolchildren: the effects of adding a physical activity promotion program to a back
Greet M Cardon1, Dirk L R de Clercq, Elisabeth J A Geldhof
1Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium. greet.cardon@ugent.be
Summary
Combining back care and physical activity programs in schools improves knowledge and behavior for early back pain prevention. However, integrating both programs may present curriculum challenges.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Public Health
- Sports Medicine
Background:
- Early back pain prevention is crucial, with a focus on promoting physical activity and optimizing spinal load in children.
- Integrating back care and physical activity programs aims to address these concerns in elementary schoolchildren.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effects of a combined back care and physical activity promotion program versus a back care-only program and a control group.
- To assess changes in back care knowledge, behavior, fear avoidance beliefs, and pain reports in elementary schoolchildren.
Main Methods:
- A pre-post design study over two school years involving three groups: back care + physical activity (n=190), back care only (n=193), and control (n=172).
- Evaluated back care knowledge, behavior, fear avoidance beliefs, and pain reports.
- Assessed physical activity levels in a sub-sample.
Main Results:
- Both intervention groups showed significantly higher back care knowledge and behavior scores than the control group.
- The back care-only group showed a greater increase in back care behavior scores compared to the combined program group.
- Fear avoidance beliefs improved significantly in both intervention groups compared to the control group; no significant differences in pain reports were found.
Conclusions:
- Adding a physical activity promotion program to a back care program is beneficial for early back pain prevention in schools.
- Simultaneous implementation of both programs may pose challenges within a crowded school curriculum.
