What do we know about physical activity interventions in vocational education and training? A systematic review

Abstract

Background: Although the health benefits of physical activity (PA) are well known, young people's level of PA is often insufficient and tends to decline in adolescence. Numerous studies have investigated the effectiveness of PApromoting interventions among young people, but none have reviewed the effectiveness of PA interventions in the vocational education and training (VET) setting. This systematic review aims to (1) synthesize and review the available literature on PA-promoting interventions in VET and (2) examine the effects of these interventions on PArelated outcomes such as PA level, physical fitness, physiological parameters, or psychological factors. Methods: Five electronic databases were searched for studies involving adolescents aged 15 to 20 years that took place in VET settings and evaluated the effects of interventions with a PA component on PA-related outcomes such as PA level, physical fitness, physiological parameters, or psychological factors. The screening process and the quality assessment were conducted by two independent reviewers; data extraction was conducted by one reviewer and verified by another. Results: The literature search identified 18,959 articles and 11,282 unique records. After the screening process, nine studies, all coming from European or Asian countries, met the pre-defined eligibility criteria and were included in qualitative analyses. All but two studies reported significant improvements for at least one PA-related outcome. The interventions substantially differed in their development approaches (top-down vs. bottom-up approaches), complexity (multi-vs. single-component), and addressed behavior (multi-behavioral vs. single-behavioral). The most conspicuous finding was that bottom-up approaches tend to improve outcomes at the psychological level and top-down approaches at the physical level. Regarding the interventions' complexity and addressed behavior, we did not reveal any conclusive results. Conclusion: This systematic review highlights the varying effects of PA-promoting interventions in VET. Nevertheless, heterogeneous effects, overall weak study quality and availability of studies only from two continents limited our ability to draw clear conclusions about the potentially most effective intervention strategies. Therefore, future research should focus on high-quality studies with long-term follow-ups to make recommendations for practical use.

Mental health and physical activity in vocational education and training schools students: a population-based survey

“…This may reflect a common characteristic as VET-students internationally more often have parents with low SES than other students. 36 This is also the case in Denmark. 18 Moreover, the association seems robust across the teenager to young adult age group as the Danish VET-student population is relatively old (mean age 24 years) relative to the younger VET-students included in previous studies (mean age 17–18 years).…”

“…VET is a promising setting for PA promotion. 36 Although this study cannot identify best practice PA interventions for VET-students, it does suggest the potential PA benefits of promoting positive mental health of VET-students. Future longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate better causal information regarding the direction of association between mental health and PA.…”

Evidenzbasierung in Primärprävention und Gesundheitsförderung: Methoden und Vorgehensweisen in 5 Forschungsverbünden

“…Zentral für die Konzeption des Gesamtverbundes sowie der einzelnen Projekte war die wissenschaftliche Evidenz zu Bewegung und Gesundheit [ 17 , 18 ], der Handlungsmöglichkeiten [ 19 , 20 ] und der transdisziplinären Forschung [ 21 ]. Der Verbund arbeitet fortlaufend an der Erweiterung dieser wissenschaftlichen Evidenzgrundlagen, u. a. durch systematische Übersichtsarbeiten [ 22 – 24 ], empirische Erhebungen zur Wirksamkeit der durchgeführten Interventionen [ 25 – 28 ] sowie durch Beiträge zur Weiterentwicklung der theoretischen Grundkonzepte [ 29 , 30 ]. Die Beiträge zur Theorieentwicklung verweisen dabei auf eine nicht immer beachtete Akzentuierung von EBPH: Nicht nur die geprüfte Anwendung von Konzepten, sondern auch die Erweiterung des theoretischen Rahmengerüstes von Public Health samt der empirischen Überprüfung neuer Theorien machen EBPH aus.…”

Interfaces of occupational health management and corporate social responsibility: a multi-centre qualitative study from Germany

“…Workplace health promotion (WHP) includes “the combined efforts of employers, employees and society to improve the health and well-being of people at work” [ 1 ]. WHP and particularly behaviour-based prevention such as physical activity [ 2 , 3 ] is one significant part of Occupational Health Management (OHM). Although no universally accepted definition of OHM exists, it typically includes legally mandated occupational health and safety, behaviour-oriented measures aimed at promoting well-being and health by encouraging individual employees to change their behaviour, and system-oriented measures aimed at improving working conditions and thereby contributing to a healthy workplace for all employees [ 4 , 5 ].…”