It is well-established that physical activity in children and adolescents benefits health and well-being, impacting their cognitive function, classroom behavior, and academic achievement. A considerable portion of the youth population, however, is not meeting the recommended levels of physical activity, with compliance rates declining with age from the early primary school years. Schools are ideal settings for promoting health-related behaviors, where children and adolescents spend much of their daily time. The present systematic review, therefore, explored the effectiveness of active break interventions for increasing daily amounts of physical activity and improving academic-related outcomes in children and adolescents. A systematic literature search was performed using the PRISMA criteria. The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus, were searched up to October 1, 2022. The search strategy included (variations of) the terms 'physical activity or exercise break', 'school or classroom', 'student or child/adolescent', 'physical activity levels', and 'academic achievement'. All included studies should be focused on examining free-living, classroom physical activity interventions among healthy, children or adolescents. A total of 29 studies met the inclusion criteria. A considerable number of studies (82%; n = 24) assessed academic-related outcomes, such as cognition, executive function, memory, and selective attention, which are likely to be improved following classroom physical activity interventions. Other studies (24%; n = 7), but not all studies (13%, n = 4), found that academic achievements per se might also be improved following such interventions. Despite the limited number of studies (27%, n = 8), classroom physical activity interventions appear to increase daily amounts of physical activity in children and adolescents. In summary, the present review confirms that classroom active break interventions can promote benefits in classroom behavior and academic achievement benefits. Such interventions also encourage children and adolescents to increase their daily amounts of physical activity, despite the limited number of published studies. There is, however, considerable variability in terms of the design of classroom active break interventions, which may limit or even nullify the comparability across studies.
È risaputo che l’attività fisica nei bambini e adolescenti, ha un impatto sulle loro funzioni cognitive, sul comportamento scolastico e sui risultati accademici. La maggior parte dei giovani, ad ogni modo, non svolge la quantità raccomandata di attività fisica, con un declino motorio fin dalla giovane età. Le scuole sono un luogo ideale per promuovere il benessere fisico, luogo in cui bambini e adolescenti spendono gran parte del loro tempo. La seguente revisione scientifica indaga sull’impatto che l’active break ha sull’attività fisica giornaliera e sul miglioramento della resa scolastica di bambini e adolescenti. La ricerca letteraria è stata fatta usando il criterio PRISMA. Il database elettronico PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, e SPORTDiscus, sono stati consultati ad Ottobre 2022. La strategia di ricerca ha incluso variazioni del termine “attività fisica o active break”, ‘scuole o classi’, ‘studenti o ragazzi/adolescenti’, ‘livello di attività fisica’, e ‘risultati accademici’. Tutte le inclusioni dovrebbero basarsi sull’esaminazione degli interventi di attività fisica nelle scuole fra adolescenti e bambini. In totale, 29 studi hanno riportato il criterio di inclusione. Un considerevole numero di studi (82%; n = 24) hanno riportato risultati accademici inerenti, come ad esempio la cognizione, funzioni esecutive, memoria, e attenzione selettiva, che sembrano essere migliorate attraverso gli interventi di attività fisica nelle scuole. Altri studi (24%; n = 7), ma non tutti gli studi (13%; n = 4), trovarono che il rendimento accademico può essere migliorato seguendo questi interventi. Nonostante il limitato numero di studi (27%; n = 8), gli interventi di attività fisica nelle classi sembrerebbe migliorare l’ammonto giornaliero di ore di attività fisica nei bambini e negli adolescenti. Nel complesso, la presente revisione scientifica conferma che l’intervento dell’active break nelle scuole può portare benefici tra gli studenti e miglioramenti accademici. Questi interventi, inoltre, incoraggiano bambini e adolescenti ad aumentare la loro quantità di attività fisica giornaliera. Ad ogni modo c’è una considerevole variazione in termini della somministrazione dell’active break, il quale può limitare o addirittura annullare la comparabilità tra i diversi studi.
Classroom physical activity interventions on daily amount of physical activity and academic outcomes: A systematic review
GRECO, FRANCESCA VERONICA
2021/2022
Abstract
It is well-established that physical activity in children and adolescents benefits health and well-being, impacting their cognitive function, classroom behavior, and academic achievement. A considerable portion of the youth population, however, is not meeting the recommended levels of physical activity, with compliance rates declining with age from the early primary school years. Schools are ideal settings for promoting health-related behaviors, where children and adolescents spend much of their daily time. The present systematic review, therefore, explored the effectiveness of active break interventions for increasing daily amounts of physical activity and improving academic-related outcomes in children and adolescents. A systematic literature search was performed using the PRISMA criteria. The electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and SPORTDiscus, were searched up to October 1, 2022. The search strategy included (variations of) the terms 'physical activity or exercise break', 'school or classroom', 'student or child/adolescent', 'physical activity levels', and 'academic achievement'. All included studies should be focused on examining free-living, classroom physical activity interventions among healthy, children or adolescents. A total of 29 studies met the inclusion criteria. A considerable number of studies (82%; n = 24) assessed academic-related outcomes, such as cognition, executive function, memory, and selective attention, which are likely to be improved following classroom physical activity interventions. Other studies (24%; n = 7), but not all studies (13%, n = 4), found that academic achievements per se might also be improved following such interventions. Despite the limited number of studies (27%, n = 8), classroom physical activity interventions appear to increase daily amounts of physical activity in children and adolescents. In summary, the present review confirms that classroom active break interventions can promote benefits in classroom behavior and academic achievement benefits. Such interventions also encourage children and adolescents to increase their daily amounts of physical activity, despite the limited number of published studies. There is, however, considerable variability in terms of the design of classroom active break interventions, which may limit or even nullify the comparability across studies.È consentito all'utente scaricare e condividere i documenti disponibili a testo pieno in UNITESI UNIPV nel rispetto della licenza Creative Commons del tipo CC BY NC ND.
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14239/15193