Temporal Trends in Children’s School Day Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis

Abstract

Background: Evidence from a limited sample of countries indicates that time for physical education and recess during school have declined. Schools are called to provide children with 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This systematic review and meta-analysis estimated temporal trends in children’s school day MVPA. Methods: Three online databases were searched to identify studies with objectively measured MVPA, during school hours, in school aged children (5–18 y). Multilevel random-effects meta-analyses estimated MVPA by year, and meta-regression analyses estimated temporal trends in school day MVPA. Results: Studies (N = 65) providing 171 MVPA estimates, representing 60,779 unique children, from 32 countries, and spanning 2003–2019 were identified. Most studies were conducted in North America (n = 33) or Europe (n = 21). School day MVPA ranged from 18.1 (95% confidence interval, 15.1–21.1) to 47.1 (95% confidence interval, 39.4–54.8) minutes per day in any given year. Meta-regression analyses indicated that MVPA declined from 2003 to 2010 (approximately 15 min decline), plateaued from 2010 to 2015 (approximately 1 min decrease), and increased from 2015 to 2019 (approximately 5 min increase). Conclusions: School day MVPA decreased from 2003 to 2010 and has recently begun to increase. However, the majority of the evidence is from North America and Europe with some evidence from Oceania and very little evidence from Asia to South America.

Catch me if you can! How French adolescents seize social occasions and opportunities to be active

“…Home (5.3% vs. 0.0% vs. 0.0% for HEPA active, minimally active and inactive profiles respectively) and school (2.4% vs. 0.0% vs. 0.0%) represent the venues for the two social occasions with the significantly lowest opportunity ratio values. Logically, the higher the duration of social occasions, the lower should be the opportunity ratio values, corroborating previous studies showing that school time tends to promote sedentary behaviors during the day [ 37 , 38 ]. Paradoxically, school has been considered as the most appropriate place to promote a PA lifestyle for adolescents [ 39 – 41 ].…”

“…Brooke et al (2014) have shown that adolescents had a total PA level lower in school, than out of school, with the possibility of accumulating even more in it [42]. Weaver et al (2021) have shown that MVPA has shown increases during school time since 2015 [38]. Therefore, it seems apparent that the pedagogical challenge consists of tailoring programs to impact on minimally active and inactive adolescents during school time, including PE time in this strategy.…”

Improvement of In-School Physical Activity with Active School-Based Interventions to Interrupt Prolonged Sitting: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In addition to this, other differences have also been observed when comparing these levels regarding sex and culture. Girls and culturally diverse populations usually engage in lighter intensity behaviors compared to boys and culturally homogeneous populations [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…Regarding age, it has been demonstrated that activity levels decrease with increasing age [ 8 ]. Whilst it could seem that adolescence would be the most critical period for the decline of physical activity, some authors agree that this decrease actually begins at the transition from early childhood to primary school (around 6–7 years old) [ 7 , 9 ].…”