Improving children’s fundamental movement skills through a family-based physical activity program: results from the “Active 1 + FUN” randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background Physical activity is related to many positive health outcomes, yet activity levels of many children are low. Researchers have suggested that family-based interventions may improve physical activity behaviors of both children and their parents. In this study, we evaluated the “Active 1 + FUN” program, which was designed based on tenets of self-determination theory. Intervention components included free sporting equipment, ten coach-led workshops and activity sessions, and one booster session. Methods We evaluated the intervention program using a randomized controlled trial. One hundred seventy-one families were randomly allocated to either an experimental group or a wait-list control group. Participants were exposed to program contents over a nine-month period, while families in the control did not receive any form of intervention. Measured constructs included moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, co-physical activity behaviors, fundamental movement skills, BMI, and several self-reported questionnaire outcomes. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to compare changes in measured outcomes across the two groups. Results No significant intervention effects were found for children’s and parents’ accelerometer-measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, or their co-physical activity. However, in terms of children’s fundamental movement skills, a significant Time*Group interaction (B = 0.52, 95% CI [0.07, 0.96] for Times 1 to 2; B = 0.24, 95% CI [0.01, 0.48] for Times 1 to 3) in favor of the experimental group was found. Conclusions Results suggested that the “Active 1 + FUN” program was effective in improving children’s fundamental movement skills. Additional research is needed to examine how family-based initiatives could effectively improve physical activity behaviors too. Trial registration ANZCTR, ACTRN12618001524280. Registered 11 September 2018, https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=375660.

A Qualitative Exploration of Facilitators and Barriers to Physical Activity Participation among Chinese Retired Adults in Hong Kong

“…This finding suggested that efforts could be made to relate physical activity to the specific challenges that participants were confronted with, and the support from family members would be necessary for this population. Interventions that adopted a family-based approach are effective in increasing children’s physical activity [ 58 ], and the attempt has also been made in the local context [ 59 ], in the parents and children dyads. Thus, future interventions could also consider the adoption of a family-based approach to increase retired adults’ physical activity.…”

Parent-focused online intervention to promote parents’ physical literacy and support children’s physical activity: results from a quasi-experimental trial

“…Calculations were conducted using G*Power 3.1.9.4, with an alpha level set to 0.05 and power to 0.8. Based on previous findings, the expected effect size was set at 0.5 [ 20 ]. The total required sample size was calculated to be 128 parent–child pairs.…”

“…At the end of each workshop, parents were invited to share their insights and suggestions. The knowledge sharing and education sections in the workshops were delivered by the lead researcher, who had both theoretical knowledge and practice experience in the development of PL and PA interventions [ 20 , 38 , 39 ], parent education techniques [ 20 ], and community-based PA promotion [ 34 ]. Activity sessions were embedded in the workshops to enable learning and sharing in a more relaxed manner.…”

“…Regarding intervention components, researchers have focused on different parts of PL to design and implement the intervention. Ha et al [ 20 ] delivered ten face-to-face workshops and activity sessions to parents and children in a 6-month period in primary schools in Hong Kong to enhance children’s fundamental movement skill (FMS) competence and PA. For improving children’s PA participation and parents’ perceived motor competence, motivation, and knowledge about PA, Morgan et al [ 21 , 31 ] invited parents and children to attend seven face-to-face group sessions (90 min each) in a 3-month program in Australian school halls. Similarly, these two studies targeted different elements of PL framework to conduct the interventions through a series of organized face-to-face initiatives.…”

Moderate Effects of School-Based Time Increasing Physical Education Intervention on Physical Fitness and Activity of 7-Year Pupils—A Report from a Follow-Up of a HCSC Study

“…They differ in terms of duration (from 2-week actions to regular whole-year programmes) and contents (increased PE time or/and health education classes and nutrition training) and also in modes of delivering (school-based, active breaks, extracurricular activities, fitness centres, or active commuting to and from school) involving children and, sometimes, the whole families. The research findings on the effectiveness of various solutions are sparse and inconclusive [ 8 , 27 , 28 ].…”