Background Physically active academic lessons are an effective intervention to reduce sedentary time and increase student physical activity. They have also been shown to enhance task engagement, as indicated by observations of attention and behavior control, Time On Task (TOT). However, it is not clear if the improved TOT stems from the physical activity or if it is the result of an enjoyable break from traditional instruction? If it is due to physical activity, what dose of intensity is required for the effect? This study was designed to test these questions. Methods Participants were 320 children (7–9 yrs) recruited from school districts in Central Texas in 2012. They were assigned by classroom (n=20) to one of four conditions: 1) sedentary, standard lesson (n=72); 2) sedentary academic game (n=87); 3) low to moderate intensity PA (LMPA), academic game (n=81); and 4) moderate to vigorous intensity PA (MVPA), academic game (n=76). Measures included PA via accelerometer; and TOT. Results Mixed-method RMANOVA indicated TOT decreased following the standard lesson (p < 0.001), showed no change following the sedentary academic game (p = 0.68), and increased following the LMPA (p < 0.01) and MVPA (p < 0.001) academic games. Conclusions While the sedentary, academic game prevented the reduction in TOT observed in the standard lesson, PA resulted in increased TOT. Future research should be designed to examine the potential academic benefits of the change in TOT.

No abstract

Physical education (PE)-based interventions are a popular method to target children's physical activity (PA) and fitness; however, little is known about their effectiveness or what factors lead to successful interventions. This paper: (1) systematically reviews studies examining PE interventions designed to impact PA, fitness, and/or body composition; and (2) makes recommendations for new research directions based upon these findings. Our systematic review was limited to experimental and quasi-experimental studies conducted in elementary schools. We conducted literature searches using predetermined keywords in 3 databases, identified a total of 4964 potentially relevant studies, and screened their abstracts and full texts for eligibility. This resulted in 12 relevant studies. We used criteria established by Downs and Black (1998) to assess each study's methodological quality. PE interventions consistently showed increases in moderate-to-vigorous PA or vigorous PA during PE class but were less consistent in impacting leisure-time PA. PE interventions affected body composition differentially, depending on the assessment used (i.e., body mass index or skinfold thickness). Half of the studies assessing fitness did not show a significant impact; however, those that did were designed to influence fitness outcomes. Few studies assessed psychosocial determinants regarding PA, and no study demonstrated significant impacts on constructs other than knowledge. Interventions often contained multiple components (e.g., diet, family) implemented alongside PE interventions. Identifying effective intervention components was difficult due to lack of process evaluation. We identify the need for future research to use more objective and accurate PA measurements and adiposity, incorporate measurement of psychological constructs, expand interventions' theoretical basis, and include strong process evaluation.

Background Active learning is designed to pair physical activity with the teaching of academic content. This has been shown to be a successful strategy to increase physical activity and improve academic performance. The existing designs have confounded academic lessons with physical activity. As a result, it is impossible to determine if the subsequent improvement in academic performance is due to: (1) physical activity, (2) the academic content of the active learning, or (3) the combination of academic material taught through physical activity. Methods / Design The Texas I-CAN project is a 3-arm, cluster randomized control trial in which 28 elementary schools were assigned to either control, math intervention, or spelling intervention. As a result, each intervention condition serves as an unrelated content control for the other arm of the trial, allowing the impact of physical activity to be separated from the content. That is, schools that perform only active math lessons provide a content control for the spelling schools on spelling outcomes. This also calculated direct observations of attention and behavior control following periods of active learning. Discussion This design is unique in its ability to separate the impact of physical activity, in general, from the combination of physical activity and specific academic content. This, in combination with the ability to examine both proximal and distal outcomes along with measures of time on task will do much to guide the design of future, school-based interventions. Trial Registration NCT03087279 (Retrospectively Registered 03/21/2017)

ObjectivesTo determine if subpopulations of students benefit equally from school-based physical activity interventions in terms of cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity. To examine if physical activity intensity mediates improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness.DesignPooled analysis of individual participant data from controlled trials that assessed the impact of school-based physical activity interventions on cardiorespiratory fitness and device-measured physical activity.ParticipantsData for 6621 children and adolescents aged 4–18 years from 20 trials were included.Main outcome measuresPeak oxygen consumption (VO2Peak mL/kg/min) and minutes of moderate and vigorous physical activity.ResultsInterventions modestly improved students’ cardiorespiratory fitness by 0.47 mL/kg/min (95% CI 0.33 to 0.61), but the effects were not distributed equally across subpopulations. Girls and older students benefited less than boys and younger students, respectively. Students with lower levels of initial fitness, and those with higher levels of baseline physical activity benefitted more than those who were initially fitter and less active, respectively. Interventions had a modest positive effect on physical activity with approximately one additional minute per day of both moderate and vigorous physical activity. Changes in vigorous, but not moderate intensity, physical activity explained a small amount (~5%) of the intervention effect on cardiorespiratory fitness.ConclusionsFuture interventions should include targeted strategies to address the needs of girls and older students. Interventions may also be improved by promoting more vigorous intensity physical activity. Interventions could mitigate declining youth cardiorespiratory fitness, increase physical activity and promote cardiovascular health if they can be delivered equitably and their effects sustained at the population level.