ANN ARBOR, MI — When Michigan’s K-12 schools moved online in March, many elementary school kids lost their daily recess and physical education classes. Middle school and high school students involved in sports were no longer participating as most activities were shut down to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Students were not getting as many opportunities for physical activity, but one University of Michigan professor is trying to prevent that from happening again.
Rebecca Hasson, a professor of kinesiology and director of the Childhood Disparities Research Laboratory, has created InPACT at Home, a fitness program that offers free, online workouts developed by physical education teachers for students. Hasson said she had been running a program called InPACT at School for a few years and decided to offer it inside the homes of students.
“It’s really just an opportunity to provide more physical activity for our children, especially during the hot days of July and when things still aren’t quite back to where they used to be,” Hasson said of InPACT at Home, which stands for Interrupting Prolonged Sitting with Activity.
A series of three-minute videos produced by Hasson’s lab was launched July 6 . Videos released later in the month will get longer and show more exercises, including yoga, high-intensity interval training and circuit training.
InPACT at Home will debut 20-minute cardio routine videos Aug. 1, and the videos will be developed and recorded at home by physical education teachers from across the state, Hasson said.
The goal, Hasson said, is to develop 250 videos — the equivalent of five videos a week for all 52 weeks — and reach 1.5 million school kids to help offset the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on young students.
“What we’ve learned in the laboratory and even in the school system is that children love and actually crave opportunities to be physically active,” Hasson said. “Although they have a lot of access to sedentary equipment — video games, TV, screen time — all of our bodies were designed to move. Having opportunities for them to be physically active at home, I think kids will relish the opportunity to do that.”
Along with the physical benefits, the program also aims to boost mental health. Without many of the social interactions students typically have at school, Hasson said they may see increased signs of depression and anxiety. It’s also possible that kids may have lost a relative due to the coronavirus pandemic, making it an even more stressful time.
Early in the planning process, Karen Weaver, former mayor of Flint, told Hasson there needed to be social-emotional components of the program to help students recognize how they feel and to use exercise as a coping strategy.
“We’re infusing in our videos -- and it’s actually being infused in a lot of different curriculums in elementary, middle and high schools -- the idea of social-emotional learning and building those skills,” Hasson said. “Teamwork skills, self-awareness skills to help kids be more aware of their emotional state and how to manage their emotions if they’re not feeling like their quite themselves in that moment.”
Parents are able to do workouts with their kids, which involves moving furniture and making sure kids have the right clothing to work out. Hasson said kids can even video chat with their friends and do the workouts together.
Physical education teachers who are interested in making videos can contact Hasson at hassonr@umich.edu. More information on InPACT at Home can be found here.
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