Effects of a school-based physical activity intervention on academic performance in 14-year old adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial – the School in Motion study

BMC Public Health

Geir Kåre Resaland¹  Andreas Åvitsland²  Øystein Lerum³  Jostein Steene-Johannessen⁴  Runar Barstad Solberg⁴  Sigmund Alfred Anderssen⁴  Ulf Ekelund⁴  Elin Kolle⁴  Reidar Säfvenbom⁴  Sveinung Berntsen⁵  Tommy Haugen⁵ 

[1] Center for Physically Active Learning, Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Sogndal, 6856, Sogndal, Norway;Department of Education and Sport Science, University of Stavanger, Pb 8600 Forus, 4036, Stavanger, Norway;Department of Sport, Food and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Sogndal, Box 133, 6851, Sogndal, Norway;Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, PB 4014, Ullevål Stadion, 0806, Oslo, Norway;Faculty of Health and Sport Science, Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, University of Agder, PB 422, 4604, Kristiansand, Norway;

关键词: Physical activity;    Cluster RCT;    Adolescents;    Academic performance;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-021-10901-x

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSchool-based physical activity interventions evaluating the effect on academic performance usually includes children. We aimed to investigate the effect of a nine-month, school-based physical activity intervention titled School in Motion (ScIM) on academic performance in adolescents.MethodsThirty secondary schools in Norway were cluster-randomized into three groups: the Physically active learning (PAL) group (n = 10), the Don’t worry – Be Happy (DWBH) group (n = 10) or control (n = 10). Target dose in both intervention groups was 120 min/week of additional PA during school hours. Parental consent was obtained from 2084 adolescent students (76%). Standardized national tests in reading and numeracy was conducted at baseline and at the end of the intervention. We used linear mixed model to test intervention effects. We found significant intervention effects in numeracy and reading among students in both interventions when compared with controls.ResultsThe mean difference in change in numeracy was 1.7 (95% CI: 0.9 to 2.5; Cohen’s d = 0.12) and 2.0 (95% CI: 1.4 to 2.7; Cohen’s d = 0.23) points in favour of students in the PAL and DWBH intervention, respectively. Similar results were found for reading, where the mean difference in change was 0.9 (95% CI 0.2 to 1.6; Cohen’s d = 0.06) and 1.1 (95% CI 0.3 to 1.9; Cohen’s d = 0.18) points in favour of students in the PAL and DWBH intervention, respectively. When conducting intention to treat analysis with imputed data the estimates were attenuated and some no longer significant.ConclusionThe ScIM study demonstrates that two different school-based PA interventions providing approximately 120 min of additional PA weekly over nine months, significantly improved numeracy and reading performance in 14-year old students compared with controls. However, the results should be interpreted with caution as the effect sizes reported were very small or small and the estimates were attenuated when conducting intention to treat analysis. Despite this, our results are still positive and suggest that PA interventions are viable models to increase academic performance among adolescents.Trial registrationRetrospectively registered (25/01/2019): NCT03817047.

【 授权许可】

CC BY