The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children is a self-administered, 7-day recall instrument. It was developed to assess general levels of physical activity throughout the elementary school year for students in grades 4 to 8 and approximately 8 to 14 years of age.
Listed in the SNAP-Ed Evaluation Framework Interpretive Guide.
Used to measure Indicator MT3: Physical Activity & Reduced Sedentary Behavior.
Year
2011
Funding Source
Urban Institute, Child Trends, and Social Solutions.
Free Material
Yes
Evidence
- Validated
Evaluation Information
"Consistently high validity, reliability is considered to be moderate." Richardson D, Cavill N, Ells L, Roberts K (2011) Measuring Diet and Physical Activity in Weight Management Interventions: A Briefing Paper. Oxford: National Obesity Observatory.
Evaluation Framework Indicators
Language
SNAP-Ed Connection Comments
Indicator-specific questions:
- Physical activity in your spare time: Have you done any of the following activities (see link above) in the past 7 days (last week)? If yes, how many times? [MT3a] Responses: No, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 times or more
- In the last 7 days, during your physical education (PE) classes, how often were you very active (playing hard, running, jumping, throwing)? [MT3d] Responses: I don’t do PE, hardly ever, sometimes, quite often, always
- In the last 7 days, what did you do most of the time at recess? [MT3e,i] Responses: Sat down (talking, reading, doing schoolwork), stood around or walked around, ran or played a little bit, ran around and played quite a bit, ran and played hard most of the time
Review date
Reviewer Initials
GHG