Regardless of grade level, children accrued b60 min/d of TPA and
b20 min/d of MVPA during a 6-hour school day. Obesity levels were
high, particularly among 5th and 6th graders and there was an inverse
relationship between BMI and minutes of MVPA for both boys and
girls. While there are numerous other factors that likely contribute to
this relationship including PA outside of school and child eating behaviors,
this study provides some insights into the dearth of PA provided in
rural schools and the potential effects this may have on child weight
status. Efforts to promote PA as a strategy for obesity prevention in
rural schools should focus on increasing opportunities forMVPA during
the school day, since this is the component of TPA shown to have the
greatest potential to reduce the risk of disease associated with low PA
levels.