Effects of a programme of vigorous physical activity during secondary school physical education on academic performance, fitness, cognition, mental health and the brain of adolescents (Fit to Study): study protocol for a cluster-randomised trial

Abstract

Background Early adolescence is a period of dynamic neurobiological change. Converging lines of research suggest that regular physical activity (PA) and improved aerobic fitness have the potential to stimulate positive brain changes, improve cognitive function and boost academic attainment in this age group, but high-quality studies are needed to substantiate these findings. The primary aim of the Fit to Study trial is to investigate whether short infusions of vigorous PA (VPA) delivered during secondary school physical education (PE) can improve attainment in maths, as described in a protocol published by NatCen Social Research. The present protocol concerns the trial’s secondary outcome measures, which are variables thought to moderate or mediate the relationship between PA and attainment, including the effect of the intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness, cognitive performance, mental health and brain structure and function. Method The Fit to Study project is a cluster-randomised controlled trial that includes Year 8 pupils (aged 12–13) from secondary state schools in South/Mid-England. Schools were randomised into an intervention condition in which PE teachers delivered an additional 10 min of VPA per PE lesson for one academic year, or a ‘PE as usual’ control condition. Intervention and control groups were stratified according to whether schools were single-sex or co-educational. Assessments take place at baseline (end of Year 7, aged 11–12) and after 12 months (Year 8). Secondary outcomes are cardiorespiratory fitness, objective PA during PE, cognitive performance and mental health. The study also includes exploratory measures of daytime sleepiness, attitudes towards daily PA and PE enjoyment. A sub-set of pupils from a sub-set of schools will also take part in a brain imaging sub-study, which is embedded in the trial. Discussion The Fit to Study trial could advance our understanding of the complex relationships between PA and aerobic fitness, the brain, cognitive performance, mental health and academic attainment during adolescence. Further, it will add to our understanding of whether school PE is an effective setting to increase VPA and fitness, which could inform future PA interventions and education policy. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03286725 . Retrospectively registered on 18 September 2017. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03593863 . Retrospectively registered on 19 July 2018. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13063-019-3279-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Associations between fitness, physical activity and mental health in a community sample of young British adolescents: baseline data from the Fit to Study trial

“…The study was a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Fit to Study cluster-randomised controlled trial, registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03286725. Trial recruitment, methodology and consent procedures are reported elsewhere 26 in line with the Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT).…”

“…49 Cronbach's alpha for the peer, conduct and pro-social subscales of the SDQ was <0.7, in line with evidence that, in community samples, these more focused scales might not reliably capture distinct aspects of mental health. 35 Recommendations for future studies Our design does not support conclusions about causality: the Fit to Study cluster-randomised controlled trial 26 aims to establish causation. Future studies could explore the role of muscular fitness, and measure relationships between mental health and physical activity in different contexts, including leisure time and competition.…”

Efeitos da associação entre espiritualidade, religiosidade e atividade física na saúde/saúde mental: revisão sistemática

“…According to the World Health Organization, regular physical activity is an effective way to prevent and treat chronic non-communicable diseases (1) , promote mental health/health (2)(3) and well-being (4)(5) . Spirituality and religiosity also influence an individual's health (6) .…”

Fit to Study: Reflections on designing and implementing a large-scale randomized controlled trial in secondary schools

“…A brain imaging sub-study investigated the underlying neural mechanisms of hypothesized correlations between cardiovascular exercise and cognitive function. Researchers published full details of FtS in the study protocol [11] and the study evaluation report [12] .…”

“…Researchers at the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes designed the intervention, delivered teacher training, and collected secondary measures of fitness, cognitive function, mental health and VPA during PE [11] . NatCen Social Research, the independent evaluator, set the sample size, collected the primary attainment measure, conducted an implementation and process evaluation, and published the primary results [12] .…”