Despite strong evidences regarding the effectiveness of school based interventions, it is recognized the need to understand their medium and long-term effects. Besides the implementation of several strategies, the interventions show different frequency and duration, which may be associated to the effectiveness. Therefore, the aim of the present review was to describe intervention studies aiming to promote PA with a length of ≥1 academic-year. A literature research was carried out in PubMed database using the following descriptors: published in the last 5 years; school-based interventions; mostly aged between 6-18 years old without restricting specific groups; and PA as one of the major outcomes. The articles were analyzed by two researchers and it was submitted to a descriptive analysis. Afterwards, the articles were judged on the basis of quality using the Downs and Black criteria. A total number of 13 articles were selected. The analysis of the interventions revealed a wide variety of strategies, such as increasing the number and/or the time of physical education classes, teachers training, use of instructional material, extracurricular activities, and parental involvement among others. Even though some interventions showed significant changes after the intervention, these changes did not remain in the long term. Further studies are required, as well as new strategies to promote PA and health at schools with a higher potential for medium and long-term effectiveness.

RESUMO O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a associação entre o padrão de utilização de espaços públicos abertos (EPA) e o nível de atividade física (AF) de intensidade moderada a vigorosa (AFMV) em São José dos Pinhais, Paraná. Sexo, faixa etária e AF foram identificados com o System for Observing Play and Recreation in Communities (SOPARC). A AFMV foi analisada considerando as categorias de sexo, local, dia da semana, horário e período. Foram realizadas 2.591 observações de pessoas e a proporção de AFMV foi de 35%. O sexo feminino apresentou associação positiva com a AFMV (OR: 1,57; IC95%: 1,32-1,86), enquanto a utilização dos EPA no final de semana (OR: 0,55; IC95%: 0,46-0,65) e no período da tarde apresentou associação inversa com o desfecho (OR: 0,57; IC95%: 0,48-0,67). Conclui-se que mulheres e aqueles que utilizam os locais durante a semana ou pela manhã apresentam maiores chances de praticarem AFMV.

The present study aimed to identify factors associated with the Stages of Change (SoC) for physical activity among adolescents who participated in a school-based health promotion intervention. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 8,071 students whose average age was 13.9 (SD ± 2.4) years. To evaluate the SoC, an adaptation of the questionnaire proposed by Dumith, Domingues and Gigante (2009) was used, considering physical activities performed at least three times per week during 20 minutes. Data collection was carried out from October to November 2013 through self-administered questionnaires in the classroom. The prevalence of students in each stage was: 12.1% in the Pre-contemplation stage, 7.7% Contemplation, 16.8% Preparation, 21.8% Action and 41.6% in the Maintenance stage. Males were more associated with the stages of Action (RR 1.28, 95% CI 1.07-1.54; p = 0.006) and Maintenance (RR 3.57, 95% CI 3.02-4.23; p <0.001) compared to females. Economic level and knowledge about health showed a direct relationship to the Action and Maintenance stages. A large portion of the sample was located in active stages. Being male, being in lower school grades and having a higher index of assets were associated with higher SoC. Knowledge about physical activity and health was directly related to the Preparation, Action and Maintenance stages, pointing to a positive effect on intention or active behavior.