Active School. A School-based Intervention to Increase Childrens Daily Physical Activity Level.

NCT03436355 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Prosjektnr NSD: 38509
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 449
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

This study seeks to explore whether increased physical activity in school affects children's executive function, aerobic Fitness and childrens self-regulation. The "Active school" study was a 10-month randomized controlled trial. The sample included 449 children (10-11 years old) in five intervention and four control schools. The weekly interventions were 2×45 minutes physically active academic lessons, 5×10 minutes physically active breaks, and 5×10 minutes physically active homework. Aerobic fitness was measured using a 10-minute interval running test. Executive function was tested using four cognitive tests (Stroop, verbal fluency, digit span, and Trail Making). A composite score for executive function was computed and used in analyses. Self-regulation was measured by the Child Behavior Rating Scale.

Conditions

Physical Activity; Aerobic Fitness; Executive Function

Keywords

Behavioral; Physical activity; Intervention; School children

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Inhibition

  Response inhibition was measured by Stroop Golden color-word test. Participants were naming the printed color of color words while suppressing the reading of the words. The measure was the number of words read in 45 Seconds.

  8 months intervention

• Working memory

  Working memory was tested by the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)-IV-test, a forward and backward digit span, a test that measures working memory function. The measure was the length of the correct series of numbers repeated by the participant. was included

  8 months intervention

• Cognitive flexibility

  Cognitive flexibility was tested by two tests. First the participants were asked to list all the animals they could think of in 60 seconds as fast as they could.The number of animals was the score. Second, participants performed the Trail Making test. This involves drawing a line connecting consecutive numbers from 1 to 25 as fast as possible. Then participants were drawing a similar line, connecting alternating numbers and letters in sequence, example: 1-A-2-B. Time to complete each "trail" was recorded.

  8 months intervention

• Aerobic fitness

  Aerobic fitness was assessed by a 10-minute interval running test. The children ran back and forth between two lines placed 20 m apart, touching the ground behind the line with their hand every time they reversed direction. After 15 seconds, a teacher signaled stop and the children rested for 15 seconds before they once more ran for 15 seconds. This procedure lasted 10 minutes, and the running distance was the outcome measure.

  8 months intervention

• Physical activity

  Physical activity was measured using accelerometry (ActiGraph GT1M/GT3X/GT3X+, LLC, Pensacola, Florida, USA). The children were asked to wear the accelerometer on the right hip for seven consecutive days, removing it only during water-based activities (e.g., swimming) and while sleeping. Data were considered valid if a child had at least two days with a wear time of ≥480 min/day accumulated between 06:00 and 24:00.

  8 months intervention

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Self-regulation

  8 months intervention

Study Arms (1)

Physical activity

EXPERIMENTAL

60 minutes of daily physical activity (see intervention)

Behavioral: Physical activity

Interventions

Physical activity BEHAVIORAL

The "Active school" study was a 10-month randomized controlled trial.The weekly interventions were 2×45 minutes physically active academic lessons, 5×10 minutes physically active breaks, and 5×10 minutes physically active homework.

Physical activity

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 8 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• all children attending 5th grade at the included schools in Stavanger, Norway during the school-year 2014/2015.

You may not qualify if:

• not able to participate in daily physical activity and physical education and complete the cognitive tests.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Stavanger: lead
• Municipality of Stavanger: collaborator
• Rogaland County Council: collaborator
• Regional Research Fund, Norway: collaborator

Related Publications (3)

• Dyrstad SM, Kvalo SE, Alstveit M, Skage I. Physically active academic lessons: acceptance, barriers and facilitators for implementation. BMC Public Health. 2018 Mar 6;18(1):322. doi: 10.1186/s12889-018-5205-3.

  PMID: 29510699 RESULT

• Kvalo SE, Bru E, Bronnick K, Dyrstad SM. Does increased physical activity in school affect children's executive function and aerobic fitness? Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2017 Dec;27(12):1833-1841. doi: 10.1111/sms.12856. Epub 2017 Mar 16.

  PMID: 28207976 RESULT

• Seljebotn PH, Skage I, Riskedal A, Olsen M, Kvalo SE, Dyrstad SM. Physically active academic lessons and effect on physical activity and aerobic fitness. The Active School study: A cluster randomized controlled trial. Prev Med Rep. 2018 Dec 28;13:183-188. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2018.12.009. eCollection 2019 Mar.

  PMID: 30656132 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity; Behavior

Interventions

Exercise

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• Elaine Munthe, PhD

  University of Stavanger

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 1, 2018
• First Posted: February 19, 2018
• Study Start: August 1, 2014
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2015
• Study Completion: June 1, 2015
• Last Updated: December 5, 2018

Record last verified: 2018-12