The Daily Mile Is Able to Improve Cardiorespiratory Fitness When Practiced Three Times a Week

Abstract

The Daily Mile is a promising initiative aimed at removing some of the barriers to physical activity in the school setting. This quasi-experimental study investigated the dose–effect of The Daily Mile on cardiorespiratory fitness, waist-to-height ratio, and body mass index (BMI) after a period of 3- and 6-months. A total of 279 students (mean age = 9 ± 1 years) participated in The Daily Mile while 269 students (mean age = 9 ± 1 years) did not (control group). A posteriori, the classes performing The Daily Mile on average two times per week were included in the 2_times subgroup, while those performing the activity on average three times per week in the 3_times subgroup. A significant difference was observed in favor of the experimental compared to the control group in the 6 Minute Run Test (F = 13.932, p = 0.008). Moreover, the improvement of the 6-minute run test was more pronounced for 3_times (effect size = 0.51) rather than for the 2_times subgroup (effect size = 0.29). No differences were observed in waist-to-height ratio and BMI scores. In conclusion, teachers are strongly recommended to implement The Daily Mile at least three times a week to see appreciable effects on cardiorespiratory fitness.

The Impact of the Daily Mile™ on School Pupils’ Fitness, Cognition, and Wellbeing: Findings From Longer Term Participation

“…If they responded positively, they were asked the name of the programme, how long they had been participating, and how often their class took part. The core principles of the Daily Mile™ are that participants should take part on at least 3 days of the week and while there is variability reported in schools approach to undertaking this (e.g., Ryde et al, 2018 ), we used this criteria to clarify participation in line with Brustio et al (2020) .…”

“…In a quasi-experimental pilot study conducted over 8 months with 391 pupils, The Daily Mile™ was found to lead to increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and fitness, reduction in time spent being sedentary, and improvements in body composition ( Chesham et al, 2018 ). Following this, several studies have examined the impact of The Daily Mile™ on fitness after 3–6 months ( Brustio et al, 2019 , 2020 ; de Jonge et al, 2020 ). To our knowledge, no longer term examination of the impact on pupil fitness has been reported.…”

“…In addition, fitness has been reported to have an impact on wellbeing in childhood and adolescence ( LaVigne et al, 2016 ; Marques et al, 2017 ). While taking part in The Daily Mile™ has been found to improve pupils fitness ( Chesham et al, 2018 ; Brustio et al, 2019 , 2020 ; de Jonge et al, 2020 ) it is important to consider to what extent fitness has an impact on cognition and wellbeing in this context.…”

The Impact of COVID-19-Related Mitigation Measures on the Health and Fitness Status of Primary School Children in Austria: A Longitudinal Study with Data from 708 Children Measured before and during the Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Subsequently, cardiorespiratory endurance has also been characterized as a strong health marker, as increased cardiorespiratory endurance is associated with healthier bodyweight and waist circumference [ 27 ]. Several different national (e.g., in Germany [ 28 ], Slovenia [ 29 ], the USA [ 30 ], Australia and Finland [ 31 ], and South Africa [ 32 ]) and international (e.g., the “Daily Mile” project ( , 5 March 2022) [ 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]) interventions have been implemented to increase public awareness, with outcomes showing a trend reversal in physical fitness levels [ 28 , 29 ].…”

Assessing the Evolution of Physical Fitness in Children and Adolescents for Evidence-Based Teaching

“…Several studies evidenced that MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity) is strongly associated with motor performances, and inversely related to adiposity (Júdice et al, 2017;Santos et al, 2019;Jones et al, 2020). Interventions aimed at improvement of resistance and cardiorespiratory fitness in youth and adolescents are often based on the amount of daily/weekly physical activity (3 -5 times a week), and the evolution in motor performances is dose-effect dependent (Brustio et al, 2020;Martin-Smith et al, 2020;Nevill et al, 2020).…”