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Does Additional Physical Education Improve Exam Performance at the End of Compulsory Education? A Secondary Analysis from a Natural Experiment: The CHAMPS-Study DK.

ABSTRACT: It remains unclear whether the provision of additional physical activity in school improves academic outcomes. We conducted a secondary analysis of the Childhood Health, Activity, and Motor Performance School Study Denmark (CHAMPS-study DK), a natural experiment based on a trebling of curricular physical education, to investigate whether children receiving additional physical education performed better on their academic exams at the conclusion of compulsory education (i.e., 9th grade). Children from six intervention schools received 3-7 years of exposure to 270 weekly minutes of physical education (sports schools), while children from four control schools received the 90-min national standard (normal schools). Academic performance was based on the standard Danish 7-point scale (ranging from -03 to 12) and retrieved from national registries. The primary outcome was calculated as the average exam grade. Comparisons of participants at sports and normal schools were adjusted for individual socioeconomic factors and school-level academic environment. There were no differences in the pooled exam performance among 691 sports- and 510 normal-school participants (0.20 (95% confidence interval: -0.12 to 0.52)). Results for subject-specific exams indicated similar results. This analysis from a non-randomized natural experiment did not provide evidence that simply adding additional physical education is sufficient to affect academic performance relative to the national standard.

SUBMITTER: Tarp J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7831119 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Does Additional Physical Education Improve Exam Performance at the End of Compulsory Education? A Secondary Analysis from a Natural Experiment: The CHAMPS-Study DK.

Tarp Jakob J Gejl Anne Kær AK Hillman Charles H CH Wedderkopp Niels N Bugge Anna A

Children (Basel, Switzerland) 20210118 1

It remains unclear whether the provision of additional physical activity in school improves academic outcomes. We conducted a secondary analysis of the Childhood Health, Activity, and Motor Performance School Study Denmark (CHAMPS-study DK), a natural experiment based on a trebling of curricular physical education, to investigate whether children receiving additional physical education performed better on their academic exams at the conclusion of compulsory education (i.e., 9th grade). Children ...[more]

PMID: 33477570

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Schools are a key setting for large-scale primordial non-communicable disease prevention in young people, but little data on sustainability of impacts on cardiometabolic risk markers is available. METHODS:Six and a half year follow-up of a natural experiment. In 2008, six public schools in the municipality of Svendborg (Denmark) augmented their curricular physical education (intervention) and four matched schools served as controls. At long term follow up in 2015 n?=?312 participants aged 5-11 years had complete data (33% of children providing necessary baseline data). The intervention, that consisted of a trebling of weekly physical education lessons and courses provided to physical education teachers, was provided at intervention schools up until 6th grade. Participants attended 6th to 10th grade at follow-up. Differences in the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance, blood pressure, triglycerides, cholesterol ratios, cardiorespiratory fitness, waist-circumference, and a composite score of these, between participants attending intervention and control schools were analysed by mixed linear regression models. Differences in physical activity at follow-up was analysed cross-sectionally (no baseline available) in n?=?495. RESULTS:Compared to controls, children at intervention schools had a non-significant -?0.07 (-?0.32 to 0.18) standard deviations lower composite risk score 6.5 years after project initiation. Likewise, no statistically significant differences between intervention and control schools were found for any of the other outcomes (p-values ??0.41). However, six of seven outcomes were in a direction favouring intervention schools. No statistically significant differences between intervention and control schools were observed for physical activity outcomes (p-values ??0.13). CONCLUSIONS:An augmented physical activity program including 270 min of weekly physical education provided for three to seven years did not materialize in statistically significant differences in established risk markers in children from intervention compared to control schools. As the intervention was discontinued after 6th grade, the post-intervention effect of augmented physical education throughout adolescence is unknown. School-based physical activity programs may benefit from incorporating instruments for behaviour translation to leisure time in their intervention models to increase the probability of achieving public health relevance. TRIAL REGISTRATION:ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03510494 .

Project description:BackgroundSex education programmes conducted by health professionals and educators are essential for young people to adopt healthy habits and attitudes towards their sexuality. The Forma Joven Program, promoted by the Andalusian Regional Government's Ministry of Health and Families and Education, is a good example of this. The aim of the study is to determine if different "degrees of intervention" in the informative consultancies of the Forma Joven Program imply differences in knowledge and attitudes towards sexuality.MethodsThis descriptive observational study analysed 27 Compulsory Secondary Education high schools in Huelva. These were included in the Program and belonged to a Primary Care Health District. Out of the 17 institutes initially selected because they met the inclusion criteria (4.256 students), finally 14 (3.596 students) participated. During the 2018/2019 school year, students from 3rd, 4th year of Secondary Compulsory Education (ESO), 1st, and 2nd Baccalaureate of the selected centres were asked to fill in a questionnaire of knowledge and attitudes towards sexuality. It collected variables such as age, sex, school year, institute, educational level and employment status of the father or mother and profile of the professional who delivers the counselling.ResultsA total of 1.237 students completed the questionnaire, which represents a participation rate of 34.4%. The average age was 15.59 years (SD 1.26) and 39.9% were girls. In some evaluated questions, we found statistically significant differences between the groups with different levels of exposure to counselling and the acquisition of knowledge and attitudes towards students' sexuality, although in most of them no such differences were found. The results of this study suggest the importance of the quality of counselling over quantity. Some classic myths persist in relation to sexuality and in some situations, they can be decisive when adopting preventive measures to avoid risks related to pregnancy and contagion of STIs.ConclusionsA greater number of counselling sessions does not imply acquiring a higher level of knowledge or better attitudes towards sexuality. Perhaps the quality of the education is more important than the quantity of counselling sessions.

Project description:BackgroundAn increasingly passive life-style in the Western World has led to a rise in life-style related disorders. This is a major concern for all segments of society. The county council of the municipality of Svendborg in Denmark, created six Sport Schools with increased levels of suitable physical activities, which made it possible to study the health outcomes in these children whilst comparing them to children who attended the 'normal' schools of the region using the design of a "natural experiment".MethodsChildren from the age of 6 till the age of 10, who accepted to be included in the monitoring process, were surveyed at baseline with questionnaires, physical examinations and physical and biological testing, including DXA scans. The physical examination and testing was repeated during the early stage of the study. Every week over the whole study period, the children will be followed with an automated mobile phone text message (SMS-Track) asking questions on their leisure time sports activities and the presence of any musculoskeletal problems. Children who report any such problems are monitored individually by health care personnel. Data are collected on demography, health habits and attitudes, physical characteristics, physical activity using accelerometers, motor performance, fitness, bone health, life-style disorders, injuries and musculoskeletal problems. Data collection will continue at least once a year until the children reach grade 9.DiscussionThis project is embedded in a local community, which set up the intervention (The Sport Schools) and thereafter invited researchers to provide documentation and evaluation. Sport schools are well matched with the 'normal' schools, making comparisons between these suitable. However, subgroups that would be specifically targeted in lifestyle intervention studies (such as the definitely obese) could be relatively small. Therefore, results specific to minority groups may be diluted. Nonetheless, the many rigorously collected data will make it possible to study, for example, the general effect that different levels of physical activity may have on various health conditions and on proxy measures of life-style conditions. Specifically, it will help answer the question on whether increased physical activity in school has a positive effect on health in children.

Dataset Information

Does Additional Physical Education Improve Exam Performance at the End of Compulsory Education? A Secondary Analysis from a Natural Experiment: The CHAMPS-Study DK.

Publications

Does Additional Physical Education Improve Exam Performance at the End of Compulsory Education? A Secondary Analysis from a Natural Experiment: The CHAMPS-Study DK.

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