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Integrating physical activity into the primary school curriculum: rationale and study protocol for the "Thinking while Moving in English" cluster randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:The current and declining physical activity levels of children is a global concern. Integrating physical activity into the school curriculum may be an effective way not only to improve children's physical activity levels but also enhance educational outcomes. Given the recent national focus in Australia on improving the literacy levels of children in primary school, and an increasing proportion of time spent on explicitly teaching these skills, integrating physical activity into English could be a viable strategy to improve literacy levels and physical activity at the same time. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the 'Thinking While Moving in English' (TWM-E) program on children's physical activity, on-task behavior in the classroom, academic achievement, and executive function. METHODS:Grade 3-4 children from 10 public schools in New South Wales, Australia will be randomly allocated to intervention (n?=?5) or control (n?=?5) groups. All teachers will receive 1-day workshop of registered professional learning and a TWM-E equipment pack (e.g., chalk, lettered bean bags). Intervention schools will be asked to adapt their English lessons to embed movement-based learning in their daily program for three 40-min lessons per week, over a six-week period. The primary outcome is children's physical activity levels across the school day (measured using accelerometry). Secondary outcomes are children's on-task behavior during English lessons, academic achievement in English, and executive function. A detailed process evaluation will be undertaken including questionnaires, fidelity checks, and teacher and student interviews. DISCUSSION:The TWM-E program has the potential to improve primary school children's physical activity levels, along with academic outcomes (on-task behavior, cognition, and academic achievement), and provide stakeholders with exemplar lessons and guidelines which illustrate how to teach English to children whilst they are moving. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Australian and New Zealand Clinical trial Register ACTRN12618001009202 Date registered: 15/06/2018 retrospectively registered.

SUBMITTER: Mavilidi MF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6449912 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Integrating physical activity into the primary school curriculum: rationale and study protocol for the "Thinking while Moving in English" cluster randomized controlled trial.

Mavilidi Myrto F MF Lubans David R DR Morgan Philip J PJ Miller Andrew A Eather Narelle N Karayanidis Frini F Lonsdale Chris C Noetel Michael M Shaw Kylie K Riley Nicholas N

BMC public health 20190404 1

<h4>Background</h4>The current and declining physical activity levels of children is a global concern. Integrating physical activity into the school curriculum may be an effective way not only to improve children's physical activity levels but also enhance educational outcomes. Given the recent national focus in Australia on improving the literacy levels of children in primary school, and an increasing proportion of time spent on explicitly teaching these skills, integrating physical activity in ...[more]

PMID: 30947708

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Project description:Improving academic achievement and reducing the rates of obesity in elementary school students are both of considerable interest. Increased physical activity during academic instruction time during school offers a potential intervention to address both issues. A program titled "Physical Activity Across the Curriculum" (PAAC) was developed in which classroom teachers in 22 elementary schools were trained to deliver academic instruction using physical activity with a primary aim of preventing increased BMI. A secondary analysis of data assessed the impact of PAAC on academic achievement using the Weschler Individual Achievement Test-II and significant improvements were shown for reading, math and spelling in students who participated in PAAC. Based on the results from PAAC, an adequately powered trial will be conducted to assess differences in academic achievement between intervention and control schools called, "Academic Achievement and Physical Activity Across the Curriculum (A?+?PAAC)."Seventeen elementary schools were cluster randomized to A?+?PAAC or control for a 3-year trial. Classroom teachers were trained to deliver academic instruction through moderate-to-vigorous physical activity with a target of 100+ minutes of A?+?PAAC activities per week. The primary outcome measure is academic achievement measured by the Weschler Individual Achievement Test-III, which was administered at baseline (Fall 2011) and will be repeated in the spring of each year by assessors blinded to condition. Potential mediators of any association between A?+?PAAC and academic achievement will be examined on the same schedule and include changes in cognitive function, cardiovascular fitness, daily physical activity, BMI, and attention-to-task. An extensive process analysis will be conducted to document the fidelity of the intervention. School and student recruitment/randomization, teacher training, and baseline testing for A?+?PAAC have been completed. Nine schools were randomized to the intervention and 8 to control. A random sample of students in each school, stratified by gender and grade (A?+?PAAC?=?370, Control?=?317), was selected for outcome assessments from those who provided parental consent/child assent. Baseline data by intervention group are presented.If successful, the A?+?PAAC approach could be easily and inexpensively scaled and disseminated across elementary schools to improve both educational quality and health.R01- DK85317.US NIH Clinical Trials, http://NCT01699295.

Project description:BackgroundMany school-based physical activity (PA) interventions are complex and have modest effects when delivered in real world contexts. A commonly reported barrier to students' PA, particularly among girls, are uniforms that are impractical (e.g. tunic/dress and black leather shoes). Modifying student uniforms may represent a simple intervention to enhance student PA. The primary aim of this trial was to assess the impact of a PA enabling uniform intervention (shorts, polo shirt and sports shoes) on girls' moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and total PA i.e. counts per minute (cpm).MethodsA cluster randomized controlled trial was undertaken in 42 primary schools in New South Wales, Australia. Schools were randomized on one school day to the intervention group, where students wore a PA enabling uniform (their sports uniform) or a control group, where students wore their usual traditional uniform. Student PA was measured using wrist-worn Actigraph GT3X and GT9X accelerometers. Linear mixed models controlling for student characteristics were used to examine the effects of the intervention..ResultsOf the 3351 eligible students, 2315 (69.1%) had parental consent and 2180 of these consenting students participated (94.2%) of which 1847 (84.7%) were included in the analysis. For the primary aim the study found no significant differences between girls at schools allocated to the intervention relative to the control on change in MVPA (0.76 min, 95% CI - 0.47 to 1.99, p = 0.22) or cpm (36.99, 95% CI - 13.88 to 87.86, p = 0.15). Exploratory analysis revealed small effects for a number of findings, including significant reduction in sedentary activity (- 1.77, 95% CI - 3.40 to - 0.14, p = 0.035) among all students at schools allocated to the intervention, and non-significant improvements in girls' light intensity PA (1.47 min, 95% CI - 0.06 to 3.00, p = 0.059) and sedentary activity (- 2.23 min; 95% CI - 4.49 to 0.02, p = 0.052).ConclusionThe findings suggests that the intervention may yield small improvements in some measure of PA and require substantiation in a larger RCT with longer-term follow-up. The inclusion of additional intervention components may be required to achieve more meaningful effects.Trial registrationThe trial was prospectively registered with Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Register ACTRN12617001266358 1st September 2017.

Project description:BackgroundViolence against children from school staff is widespread in various settings, but few interventions address this. We tested whether the Good School Toolkit-a complex behavioural intervention designed by Ugandan not-for-profit organisation Raising Voices-could reduce physical violence from school staff to Ugandan primary school children.MethodsWe randomly selected 42 primary schools (clusters) from 151 schools in Luwero District, Uganda, with more than 40 primary 5 students and no existing governance interventions. All schools agreed to be enrolled. All students in primary 5, 6, and 7 (approximate ages 11-14 years) and all staff members who spoke either English or Luganda and could provide informed consent were eligible for participation in cross-sectional baseline and endline surveys in June-July 2012 and 2014, respectively. We randomly assigned 21 schools to receive the Good School Toolkit and 21 to a waitlisted control group in September, 2012. The intervention was implemented from September, 2012, to April, 2014. Owing to the nature of the intervention, it was not possible to mask assignment. The primary outcome, assessed in 2014, was past week physical violence from school staff, measured by students' self-reports using the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Screening Tool-Child Institutional. Analyses were by intention to treat, and are adjusted for clustering within schools and for baseline school-level means of continuous outcomes. The trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01678846.FindingsNo schools left the study. At 18-month follow-up, 3820 (92·4%) of 4138 randomly sampled students participated in a cross-sectional survey. Prevalence of past week physical violence was lower in the intervention schools (595/1921, 31·0%) than in the control schools (924/1899, 48·7%; odds ratio 0·40, 95% CI 0·26-0·64, p<0·0001). No adverse events related to the intervention were detected, but 434 children were referred to child protective services because of what they disclosed in the follow-up survey.InterpretationThe Good School Toolkit is an effective intervention to reduce violence against children from school staff in Ugandan primary schools.FundingMRC, DfID, Wellcome Trust, Hewlett Foundation.

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Integrating physical activity into the primary school curriculum: rationale and study protocol for the "Thinking while Moving in English" cluster randomized controlled trial.

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Integrating physical activity into the primary school curriculum: rationale and study protocol for the "Thinking while Moving in English" cluster randomized controlled trial.

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