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Are school-based physical activity interventions effective and equitable? A meta-analysis of cluster randomized controlled trials with accelerometer-assessed activity.
Love, R, Adams, J, van Sluijs, EMF
Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. 2019;(6):859-870
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Abstract
The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing at epidemic rates globally, with widening inequalities between advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Despite the promise of schools as a universal context to access and influence all children, the potential of school-based interventions to positively impact children's physical activity behaviour, and obesity risk, remains uncertain. We searched six electronic databases to February 2017 for cluster randomized trials of school-based physical activity interventions. Following data extraction, authors were sent re-analysis requests. For each trial, a mean change score from baseline to follow-up was calculated for daily minutes of accelerometer-assessed moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), for the main effect, by gender, and by socio-economic position (SEP). Twenty-five trials met the inclusion criteria; 17 trials provided relevant data for inclusion in the meta-analyses. The pooled main effect for daily minutes of MVPA was nonexistent and nonsignificant. There was no evidence of differential effectiveness by gender or SEP. This review provides the strongest evidence to date that current school-based efforts do not positively impact young people's physical activity across the full day, with no difference in effect across gender and SEP. Further assessment and maximization of implementation fidelity is required before it can be concluded that these interventions have no contribution to make.
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School-Based Exercise Programs and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors: A Meta-analysis.
Pozuelo-Carrascosa, DP, Cavero-Redondo, I, Herráiz-Adillo, Á, Díez-Fernández, A, Sánchez-López, M, Martínez-Vizcaíno, V
Pediatrics. 2018;(5)
Abstract
CONTEXT The effects of school-based physical activity (PA) programs on different cardiometabolic risk factors and the most appropriate features of PA programs to achieve maximum effectiveness are unclear. OBJECTIVE To provide a comprehensive synthesis of the effectiveness of school-based PA interventions on cardiometabolic risk factors in children. DATA SOURCES We identified studies from database inception to February 22, 2018. STUDY SELECTION We selected studies that were focused on examining the effect of school-based PA interventions on cardiometabolic risk factors in children. DATA EXTRACTION Random-effects models were used to calculate the pooled effect size (ES) for the included cardiometabolic risk factors (waist circumference [WC], triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and fasting insulin and glucose). RESULTS Nineteen randomized controlled trials (which included 11 988 children aged 3-12 years) were included in the meta-analysis. School-based PA programs were associated with a significant small improvement in WC (ES = -0.14; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.22 to -0.07; P < .001), DBP (ES = -0.21; 95% CI: -0.42 to -0.01; P = .040), and fasting insulin (ES = -0.12; 95% CI: -0.20 to -0.04; P = .003). LIMITATIONS Authors of few studies described the implementation conditions of their interventions in detail, and compliance rates were lacking in most studies. In addition, results by sex were provided in a small number of studies. CONCLUSIONS School-based PA interventions improve some cardiometabolic risk factors in children, such as WC, DBP, and fasting insulin.