School-Based Physical Activity Interventions: Effectiveness, Trends, Issues, Implications and Recommendations for Practice.
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Citations
After-School Program Impact on Physical Activity and Fitness: A Meta-Analysis
Fitness testing in physical education – a misdirected effort in promoting healthy lifestyles and physical activity?
Evaluation of an extra-curricular school sport programme promoting lifestyle and lifetime activity for adolescents.
Randomized controlled trial of the physical activity leaders (PALs) program for adolescent boys from disadvantaged secondary schools
Community interventions to promote proper nutrition and physical activity among youth
References
Physical Fitness Testing of Children: A 30-Year History of Misguided Efforts?
A Long-Term Follow-Up of Participants in the Trois-Rivières Semi-Longitudinal Study of Growth and Development
Gender Issues in Health-related Exercise
How healthy is school PE? A review of the effectiveness of health-related physical education programmes in schools:
Related Papers (5)
Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth
Frequently Asked Questions (16)
Q2. What are the future works in this paper?
Further, and despite limitations in the existing literature precluding definitive guidelines for schools to be made, consideration of the key trends and issues concerning the physical activity interventions clearly has implications for practice and has been used to inform a number of recommendations for the future direction of formal and informal physical activity programmes, initiatives and interventions.
Q3. What is the main reason for moving beyond the curriculum?
Another important reason for moving beyond the curriculum relates to the limitations of healthism and the biomedical discourse upon which curriculum based interventions are based.
Q4. What is the reason for the lack of secondary based interventions?
Given that physical activity levels decrease with age, particularly during the teenage years (Armstrong and Van Mechelen, 1998; Riddoch and Boreham, 1995), the lack of secondary based interventions is disappointing.
Q5. What are the main criteria for evaluation of exercise interventions?
For interventions to be critically evaluated, clearly defined and measurable goals are needed that are based on the best available evidence defining valued outcomes.
Q6. What was the common theory used in the study?
The most common theory was the Social Cognitive Theory or Social Learning Theory, though Social Influences, Self-Monitoring, Cognitive Evaluation Theory (self-regulation) and Organizational Change Theory were also employed.
Q7. How many middle schools were randomly assigned to interventionor control conditions?
Twenty four middle schools were randomly assigned to interventionor control conditions and physical activity interventions designed to increase physical activity in PE classes and throughout the school day were carried out over two years.
Q8. What is the aim of the National PE, School Sport and Club Links Strategy?
The aim of the strategy is to:‘increase the percentage of school children in England who spend a minimum of two hours each week on high quality PE and school sport within and beyond the curriculum (from 25 per cent in 2002) to 75 per cent by 2006.’
Q9. Why did Stone et al., (1998) suggest that the lack of pre-school?
Stone et al., (1998) suggest that the absence of pre-school and early primary years in interventions is partially due to the difficulty in measuring physical activity, as well as delivering interventions with these groups.
Q10. What is the recent and significant example of this?
Perhaps the most recent and significant example of this was the launch of the National PE, School Sport and Club Links Strategy in October 2002, which is being delivered by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and DCMS and being supported by a Government investment of £459 million over three years.
Q11. What is the definition of a necessity in intervention research?
Some researchers consider the use of random assignment and control groups a necessity in intervention research, whilst others consider such experimental examinations an impossibility (Kemper, 1990).
Q12. Why do they suggest that primary school programmes are more focused on the inactive?
Harris and Cale (1997) on the other hand, suggest that the predominance of primary school programmes may be due to the increased flexibility generally afforded by the primary curriculum and to their more generally holistic approach to health education.
Q13. What are the limitations of a scientifically based approach?
Tinning and Kirk (1991) highlight the limitations of adopting a scientifically based experimental approach within complex social settings such as schools and identified problems with the matching of control and experimental groups and of isolating the effects of programmes from control groups.
Q14. What is the main idea behind the ecological approach to physical activity?
Ecological approaches have, at their core, the notion that behaviour, in this case physical activity, is influenced by multiple facets of the intrapersonal (e.g., psychological and biological variables, developmental history), interpersonal (e.g., family, peers), and physical and policy and legislative environments (Gorely, 2005).
Q15. What is the definition of ‘lifelong physical activity’?
Compatible with the NCPE health and fitness requirements and the interpretation offered by Harris (2000) is the notion of ‘lifelong or lifetime physical activity,’ which suggests that content should focus on the development of activities and skills ‘that promote generalization and maintenance of physical activity during youth and adolescence and enhance the probability of carryover to adulthood’
Q16. What is the evidence that schools can be successful in promoting physical activity?
The evidence reviewed here has revealed that school based physical activity interventions can be effective and achieve a range of positive outcomes,suggesting that teachers’ efforts to promote physical activity through PE programmes can indeed be worthwhile.