Progress
PEAR
- PEAR is currently recruiting and data collecting in secondary schools across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, BANES and North Somerset.
PEACH
- PEACH 1 (Baseline): 1307 year 6 pupils, across 23 primary schools, were involved in the project by the end of the academic year 2007/08. Recruitment for the PEACH project started back in 2006. 24 primary schools were sampled on the basis of a high pupil transition rate (over 40%) to one of eight state secondary schools. Those particular eight secondary schools were chosen to represent the economic, ethnic and geographical diversity across Bristol. The measurements that were taken were; height, weight and waist measurements, computerised questionnaire including items on physical activity, local area, personal growth and development, health behaviours, an activity monitor (accelerometer) was worn for one week and a GPS monitor for four days, also the pupils were asked to complete an activity diary for three days.
- PEACH 2: 953 agreed to complete the follow-up in the first year of secondary school. Students were spread between 29 secondary schools across the Bristol, South Gloucestershire, BANES and North Somerset area. In addition to the measurements that were carried out in the first round this time the pupils were asked to fill out a food diary for three days.
- PEACH 3: Students who originally took part in PEACH phase 1 were approached again between 2011 and 2013 to do one last follow up to see how things have changed as they have moved through secondary school. 1053 pupils of the original 1307 were contacted through the same 29 secondary schools. We are now nearing the conclusion of data collection for this final phase of the PEACH Project. Pupils have been asked to complete all of the PEACH measures except activity or food diary. In addition to these measures pupils in phase 3 have been asked to provide six saliva samples; three on a weekday and three on a weekend day in order to measure the output of the stress hormone Cortisol in relation to time spent outdoors and activity levels.
What we have discovered so far...
The PEACH project was designed to investigate a number of factors related to the change in physical activity levels of children as they move through schooling. The first part of the study focused on the transition year between primary and secondary school. The age of transition (10-12years) is typically characterised by a downward shift in physical activity and an increase in sedentary behaviour. Because the transition from primary to secondary school is also often associated with a change in mode of transport to and from school, changes in independent mobility (IM) and a change in peer group and environment, the original PEACH project was interested in discovering what influence these factors have on physical activity levels.
See below for our findings to date.
What is next for PEACH...
Longitudinal data analysis is underway using PEACH data from all three time points. In addition, cross-sectional analysis of the PEACH 3 data including Cortisol will take place once data collection is complete.
Watch this space for further updates on our findings.