Dataset Information

Breaking up classroom sitting time with cognitively engaging physical activity: Behavioural and brain responses.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Classroom-based active breaks are a feasible and effective way to reduce and break up sitting time, and to potentially benefit physical health in school children. However, the effect of active breaks on children's cognitive functions and brain activity remains unclear.

Objective

We investigated the impact of an active break intervention on typically developing children's cognitive functions and brain activity, sitting/standing/stepping, on-task behaviour, and enjoyment.

Methods

Up to 141 children, aged between 6 and 8 years (46% girls), were included, although about half of them completed two of the assessments (n = 77, working memory; n = 67, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex haemodynamic response). Classrooms from two consenting schools were randomly allocated to a six-week simple or cognitively engaging active break intervention. Classrooms from another school acted as a control group. The main analyses used linear mixed models, clustered at the class level and adjusted for sex and age, to investigate the effects of the interventions on response inhibition, lapses of attention, working memory, event-related brain haemodynamic response (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). The mediating effects of sitting/standing/stepping on cognition/brain activity were also explored. To test intervention fidelity, we investigated differences by group on the change values in children's sitting, standing, and moving patterns during class/school time using linear mixed models. Generalized linear mixed models clustered at the individual level were used to examine on-task behaviour data. For the intervention groups only, we also assessed children's perceived enjoyment, physical exertion and mental exertion related to the active breaks and compared the results using independent t-tests.

Results

There was a significantly greater positive change in the proportion of deoxygenated haemoglobin in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of children assigned to cognitively engaging active breaks compared to the control group (B = 1.53 × 10-07, 95% CI [0.17 × 10-07, 2.90 × 10-07]), which under the same cognitive performance is suggestive of improved neural efficiency. Mixed models showed no significant effects on response inhibition, lapses of attention, working memory. The mediation analysis revealed that the active breaks positively affected response inhibition via a change in sitting and standing time. The sitting, standing, and moving patterns and on-task behaviour were positively affected by the active breaks at end of trial, but not at mid-trial. Children in both intervention groups showed similarly high levels of enjoyment of active breaks.

Conclusion

Cognitively engaging active breaks may improve brain efficiency in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the neural substrate of executive functions, as well as response inhibition, via effects partially mediated by the change in sitting/stepping time. Active breaks can effectively reduce sitting and increase standing/stepping and improve on-task behaviour, but the regular implementation of these activities might require time for teachers to become familiar with. Further research is needed to confirm what type of active break best facilitates cognition.

SUBMITTER: Mazzoli E

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8279315 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundChildren spend ?70% of the school day sitting in class. Classroom-based active breaks can benefit children's physical health, but if the breaks are cognitively demanding (i.e., combine physical exertion and mental engagement), they may also improve focus and cognitive functions. Teachers and students play a crucial role in the successful implementation of active breaks, and their perspectives are critical to the feasibility of these strategies. The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of implementing a cognitively challenging motor task as an active break in mainstream and special primary schools.MethodsA total of 5 teachers in 2 mainstream schools and 7 teachers in 1 special school (attended by children with neurodevelopmental disorders) attended a 20-min training on how to implement a 4-min cognitively challenging active break, before conducting a feasibility trial (twice a day for 1 week). To understand individual perceptions, one-on-one semistructured interviews were conducted before and after the trial with teachers, and focus group interviews were conducted with typically developing children after the trial. Questions were based on a predefined framework for feasibility studies. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analyzed in NVivo 11 using a framework approach. A total of 12 teachers (11 females; 7 between 20 and 34years old) and 34 children (16 girls; 9.3 ± 1.7years, mean ± SD) participated in the interviews.ResultsIn mainstream schools, teachers viewed the cognitively challenging motor task as appropriate and potentially beneficial for children's health and focus. Children reported enjoying the active breaks. Teachers in special schools viewed the task as complex and potentially frustrating for children. In both school types, children's disruptive behavior and lack of time were seen as the main potential barriers to implementation. The use of music, videos, visual cards, and support staff were noted as potential facilitators.ConclusionThe cognitively challenging motor task was a feasible way to interrupt children's sitting time and promote physical activity in mainstream schools, but required changes in special schools. Further research could investigate the effectiveness of these types of task interruptions on children's physical and cognitive health.

Project description:PurposeTo identify predictors of favorable changes to postprandial insulin and glucose levels in response to interrupting prolonged sitting time with standing or light-intensity physical activity.MethodsData were combined from four similarly designed randomized acute cross-over trials (n = 129; body mass index [BMI] range, 19.6-44.6 kg·m; South Asian = 31.0%; dysglycemia = 27.1%). Treatments included: prolonged sitting (6.5 h) or prolonged sitting broken-up with either standing or light-intensity physical activity (5 min every 30 min). Time-averaged postprandial responses for insulin and glucose were calculated for each treatment (mean ± 95% confidence interval). Mutually adjusted interaction terms were used to examine whether anthropometric (BMI), demographic (age, sex, ethnicity [white European vs South Asian]) and a cardiometabolic variable (Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance)-modified responses.ResultsPostprandial insulin and glucose were reduced when individuals interrupted prolonged sitting with bouts of light physical activity, but not with standing. Reductions in time-averaged postprandial insulin were more pronounced if individuals were South Asian compared with white European (-18.9 mU·L [-23.5%] vs -8.2 mU·L [-9.3%]), female compared with male (-15.0 mU·L [-21.2%] vs -12.1 mU·L [-17.6%]) or had a BMI ≥27.2 kg·m (-20.9 mU·L [-22.9%] vs -8.7 mU·L [-18.2%]). Similarly, being female (-0.4 mmol·L [-0.6 mmol·L, -0.2 mmol·L], -6.8% vs -0.1 mmol·L [-0.3 mmol·L, 1 mmol·L], -1.7%) or having a BMI ≥27.2 kg·m (-0.4 mmol·L [-0.6 mmol·L, -0.2 mmol·L], -6.7% vs -0.2 mmol·L [-0.4 mmol·L, 0.0 mmol·L], -3.4%) modified the postprandial glucose response. No significant interactions were found for Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance or age.ConclusionsBeing female, South Asian, or having a higher BMI, all predicted greater reductions in postprandial insulin, whereas being female and having a higher BMI predicted greater reductions in postprandial glucose when sitting was interrupted with light physical activity. These results could help to guide personalized interventions in high-risk participants for whom breaking prolonged sitting time with light activity may yield the greatest therapeutic potential.

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