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

BackgroundEarly 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. MethodThe 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 minutes 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 subset of pupils from a subset of schools will also take part in a brain imaging sub-study, which is embedded in the trial. DiscussionThe 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 registrationClinicaltrials.gov, ID: NCT03286725. Retrospectively registered on 18th of September, 2017 Clinicaltrials.gov, ID: NCT03593863. Retrospectively registered on 19th of July, 2018Trial sponsor: University of Oxford. Protocol version: 1.

A critical evaluation of systematic reviews assessing the effect of chronic physical activity on academic achievement, cognition and the brain in children and adolescents: a systematic review

“…To uncover neuro-biological mechanisms of exercise, brain imaging (MRI and/or EEG) should be considered as an outcome measure in future intervention studies, e.g. Cogni-Action project [58] and Fit to Study [61]. Moderators There is little understanding of the influence of potential moderators, such as sex, socioeconomic status, ethnicity and genetic background on PA-related cognitive, academic and brain outcomes.…”

Protocolo de estudio de las variables académicas, psicológicas y de actividad física que influyen en el rendimiento académico de adolescentes mexicanos y españoles | Protocol for the study of the academic, psychological and physical activity variables that influence the academic performance of Mexican and Spanish adolescents

“…La literatura científica ha manifestado que diversas variables se han relacionado con el rendimiento académico en los últimos años, por ejemplo, Baños, Ortiz-Camacho, Baena-Extremera y Tristán-Rodríguez (2017), proponen analizar el rendimiento académico desde el bienestar subjetivo de los estudiantes. Además, otros estudios han demostrado que las calificaciones de los estudiantes se relacionan con los comportamientos disruptivos en el aula (Collins et al, 2016), la inteligencia emocional (Usán & Salavera, 2019), inteligencia cognitiva (Gómez-Veiga, Vila, Duque, & García, 2018), los niveles de actividad física (Wassenaar, 2019) y la autoestima (Díaz & Caso, 2018).…”

Multimodal Imaging Brain Markers in Early Adolescence Are Linked with a Physically Active Lifestyle

“…Participants and recruitment Year 7 pupils from a subset of 10 United Kingdom schools participating in the Fit to Study project Main trial (total 93 schools) were invited to take part in a brain imaging substudy (Wassenaar et al, 2019). The 10 recruitment schools were selected for being conveniently located for travel to Oxford.…”