Team Pentathlon – Promoting Physical Activity among Children and Adolescents

Résumé

Following a review of the literature that examines various strategies developed to promote the regular practice of physical activity among children and adolescents, this paper describes a particular school-based intervention program, Team Pentathlon (TP). During an eight-week period, students (grouped in teams) are asked to daily register the nature and the duration of all episodes of physical activity voluntarily performed aside from their PE classes. Depending upon the average intensity of each selected activity and its intermittent or continuous nature, a correction factor is applied to the duration, 60 corrected minutes representing one Pentathlon Hour (PH). Details are provided for the achievement of symbolic awards, as well as for individual and team regulation of the physical activity practice throughout the program. Analyses over several implementations of TP show that a majority of students were active or very active during the intervention programs and willing to undergo another TP.