Short Orals: School-based interventions

Background Most school-aged adolescents in Sweden do not meet the recommended physical activity (PA) levels. Previous research indicates that there are differences in adolescents’ PA levels, where girls, older adolescents, and those with low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to have lower PA levels. School-aged adolescents spend a large part of their day in school; despite this, little is known about differences in adolescents’ PA during school time between and within multiple social categories (such as gender, age, and SES). An intersectional perspective can provide an understanding of adolescents with multiple intersecting social categories’ PA during school time. Purpose From an intersectional perspective, this study aims to examine adolescents’ physical activity during school time by self-reported and objectively measured data. Methods This case study will involve two schools (one in a residential area with low SES and the other in a residential area with high SES) from Gothenburg, Sweden. The study participants are adolescents in grades five, seven, and nine. The data will be collected through a questionnaire and accelerometer (ActiGraph, model GT3X/GT3X+). Data collection will occur during the spring of 2024; initial results are expected by autumn. (Expected) Results The anticipated results are expected to provide information on a) adolescents’ PA during school time, b) potential group differences in PA during school time and c) how multiple social categories intersect to affect PA during school time. Conclusions The study could generate knowledge that might enable an understanding of the inequalities in PA during school time, which in turn may aid in promoting more equitable PA. Practical implications This study intends to explore a relatively unexplored field. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no prior study with an intersectional perspective has examined adolescents’ PA during school time. Funding The Swedish Research Council

Background: The Health Promoting School (HPS) approach is a whole-school approach – recognized as an effective way of enhancing health promotion. The HPS entails working with health across the curriculum, politics, ethos, physical environment; also building on community participation and use of data and evidence to strengthen practices. A Whole-School approach to Physical Activity (WSPA) relies on HPS principles but is focused on PA. Purpose: Using a recently validated survey-tool, this cross-sectional study investigates WSPA implementation and its correlates at Danish preparatory basic education and training schools. These school enroll vulnerable youth (ages 16 to 25, mean age 17) who were Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) prior to enrolment. Methods: All Danish schools enrolling NEET youth, were invited to participate in an electronic survey measuring WSPA implementation. The survey was administered to all teachers during fall 2023. The WSPA survey consists of 23 items (5-point Likert scales) and is operationalized into five domains. Descriptive statistics were used to assess implementation and identify correlates. Results: 92,5% of schools and 1035 teachers (response rate 71.8%) participated. High implementation levels were found for domain 3; Quality of delivery (mean 3.50, SD 0.60) and domain 4; Core values (mean 3.43, SD 0.65). Medium score for domain 1; Collaboration and engagement (mean 2.99, SD 0.74) and low scores for domain 2; Integration of PA into school days (mean 2.41, SD 1.07) and Resources (2.56, SD 0.82). Having a PA policy was correlated with higher scores across all domains (p<0,001). Conclusions: Implementation of WSPA varied across domains – with lower scores related to integration of PA into school days and resources. Having a PA policy was correlated with better implementation of WSPA. Practical implications: The WSPA survey can be used to identify strengths and room for improvement. Funding: The Danish Heart Foundation.

Background: Physical education classes are widely acknowledged as crucial for promoting physical activity and health among children and adolescents, especially considering that in several countries, school-based classes remain the primary place for engaging youths in physical activity. Purpose: This pilot study aimed to test a physical education intervention program on physical activity levels and physical fitness in a sample of school-age children. Methods: Participants were a convenience sample of 50 children (34 in the experimental group and 16 in the comparative group) aged between 6 and 11 years old (Mean = 8.28 years). A 21-week intervention was implemented in physical education classes, consisting of high-intensity and physical fitness-focused exercises, in addition to a once-a-month extra class nutritional education. The following variables were evaluated before and post-intervention: physical fitness, sedentary behavior (SB), light physical activity (LPA), moderate physical activity (MVA), and vigorous physical activity (VPA). Propensity score analyses calculated the average treatment effect on the treated (ATET) within a quasi-experimental framework. Results: Physical fitness variables improved after the intervention, specifically for cardiorespiratory fitness, agility, and speed. There was a decrease in the time spent in MVPA and VPA for physical activity levels, while an increase in LPA was observed. Conclusion: The intervention program showed preliminary effectiveness in improving physical fitness and LPA of children, but not sedentary behavior nor the physical activity of higher intensities. Further research is needed to comprehensively understand the impact of physical education classes on overall physical activity levels. Practical implications: Physical education classes play a crucial role in enhancing physical fitness from childhood through adolescence, significantly contributing to health promotion. These findings should be regarded as essential elements in public health policies. Fundings: Capes- Brazil; CNPq – Brazil

Background: Students’ engagement (SE) is an important factor that causes students motivation and achievement towards learning. It prevents drop-out, increases feelings of dedication to learning, determination, belonging and participation in school activities such as playing sports. From research evidence, it is found that sufficient MVPA will improve students’ engagement. Purpose: This research aimed to examine the association between sufficient MVPA to students’ engagement at school. Methods: This study employed Thailand 2021 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth Survey and involved a total of 6,076 national representative samples aged 5–17 years. Given the Covid-19 restriction measures, data was collected by using on-screen face-to-face interviews, where the interviewer and respondents conversed in a real-time face-to-face interaction mediated by a screen (e.g., smartphone, tablet, laptop). PA was measured subjectively, whereas student’s engagement was assessed by adopting Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) criteria. Results: Sufficient MVPA was positively associated with high students’ engagement. Students with sufficient MVPA are 1.259 times more likely to have higher engagement than their friends with insufficient MVPA. While students in rural areas were also had a higher engagement than their counterparts in urban areas (OR 1.308***), students in late secondary were less likely (OR 0.472***) to have high engagement compared to students in the lower grades. Conclusions: Physical activities encourage students’ engagement through participations in various activities at schools. Therefore, schools should allocate and design a proper support for physical activities during the school day to encourage students’ engagement which further improve their academic outcomes. Practical implications: The Whole of School approach policy maybe recommended to be implemented at schools because it improves both sufficient MVPA and encouraging students’ engagement. Funding: Thai Health Promotion Foundation grant number 64-00-0173.

Background: Physically active learning (PAL), where movement is integrated into curricular lessons, is a promising approach to address insufficient physical activity amongst UK adolescents, especially those who encounter participation barriers outside school. Studies have largely focussed on primary schools; little is known about PAL in UK secondary schools. Purpose: To explore, using mixed-methods, the acceptability of PAL for UK secondary school teachers, and their delivery preferences, perceived implementation barriers and facilitators. Methods: Cross-sectional data were collected from UK secondary teachers via online survey (N=75). In addition to descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted to examine differences by gender and school types (urban/rural, state-funded/independent), and Kruskal-Wallis tests for differences by subject. Qualitative data on teachers’ current teaching practice, PAL acceptability, and perceived barriers and facilitators, collected through open survey questions (N=63), and online teacher interviews (N=7), were analysed using the framework method. Results Using a scale of 1.0 (strong disagreement) to 5.0 (strong agreement), participants liked the concept of PAL (median 4.0, IQR 4.0,5.0) and would use PAL if it was school policy (median 4.0, IQR 3.5,5.0). Female participants were more certain that PAL should be implemented than male (U=361.5, p=0.04). Languages teachers found PAL appropriate for their subject more than humanities and social science teachers (U=6, p=0.01). Four main themes were generated: (1) ‘It’s time for a change’; (2) ‘PAL seems like common sense’; (3) ‘Is PAL realistic in secondary schools?’, including concerns around academic pressures and (4) ‘Recommendations for implementation’, highlighting a collaborative, whole-school approach. Conclusions: This study indicated UK secondary teacher acceptability of PAL, with PAL felt to be a logical, enjoyable tool to contribute to education system improvement and benefit pupils, if appropriately implemented. Practical implications: Further research into UK secondary school PAL is warranted. These findings can inform future research and intervention development. Funding: N/A

Background: Many Dutch primary schools have thus far not succeeded in making their school day more ‘dynamic’ (i.e. a school day that involves regular interruptions of sedentary learning with moments of physical activity). But a small number of Dutch primary schools already successfully implemented a more dynamic school day. Purpose: In this qualitative study, we set out to assess the facilitators and barriers that several stakeholders faced during the implementation of the dynamic school day in frontrunning primary schools in the Netherlands. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with stakeholders of 3 Dutch primary schools to assess facilitators and barriers for implementation of their local dynamic school day. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. Results: In total, we interviewed 13 stakeholders, including head teachers, physical educators and primary school teachers. The identified facilitators and barriers could be categorized into five overarching themes: the teacher, the pupils, the school, the socio-political environment and practical considerations. Conclusions: Frontrunning primary schools with respect to a more dynamic school day have encountered and overcome many barriers and made use of numerous facilitating circumstances in the Dutch context. Practical implications: We translated the lessons learned into a set of potential implementation strategies that can serve as a source of inspiration for other Dutch primary schools in their process to develop a dynamic school day for their local context. Funding: Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)

Background: In recent years, several studies have shown a positive association between physical fitness and cognitive performance in children and adolescents. However, few studies have investigated whether this relationship is the same for boys and girls. Purpose: To evaluate the moderator role of gender on the association between physical fitness and executive functions. Methods: Participants were 1156 secondary school students aged 12-16 (12.55 ± 0.81). Physical fitness was evaluated with the 20 m shuttle run (cardiorespiratory fitness), dynamometry (Upper limb strength), and standing long jump (lower limb strength), whereas executive functions (inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility and working memory) were measured with the NIH Examiner battery. We implemented a moderation analysis by using MPLUS software. Results: Physical fitness was a positive predictor of executive function in the whole sample. Gender was highlighted as a significant moderator, with a significantly higher slope for girls than for boys (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Adolescents with better physical fitness have better cognitive performance through better executive function scores, and the degree of association in higher in girls. Practical implications: These findings have relevance on the topic about the association between fitness and cognition. The benefits of higher levels of physical fitness for better cognitive performance are greater for girls than for boys. Funding: This study was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (PID2019-104023RA-I00) and the Spanish State Investigation Agency (CNS2022-135604).

Background: The Global Observatory for Physical Education (GoPE!)[1] intends to answer the need to strengthen the provision of quality physical education (PE) and school-based physical activity (PA). GoPE! aims to identify and summarize available interventions within the school setting per country, their characteristics and effectiveness, and highlight gaps that could be addressed through future research. To inform the first round of GoPE! Country Cards a systematic umbrella review was conducted[2]. For the second round of GoPE! Country Cards, the focus will be to evaluate primary intervention studies systematically. Purpose: To present the systematic review protocol to inform the ‘PE and school-based PA interventions research’ dimension of the second set of the GoPE! Country Cards. Methods: This protocol was developed under the PRISMA-P guidelines for systematic review protocols. A search will be conducted through four databases (Web of Science, Pubmed, Scopus, and EBSCO), aiming to include interventions (1) with participants aged 5 to 17 enrolled in school, (2) conducted primarily within the school, and (3) focusing on PA measurements, regardless of the study design. Only studies published in English, Portuguese, Spanish, and French, from 2000 onwards will be included. Results: Data collected will be summarized and inform the second set of Country Cards on the type of intervention, specifically: (1) PE interventions, (2) active transportation, (3) active classes/breaks, (4) active recess, and (5) extra-curriculum PA. The GoPE! Country Cards will classify each country’s contribution to PE and school-based PA research. Conclusions and practical implications: A systematic review of interventions within the school setting is needed to enhance research capacity and to address the gap between the scientific research field and practical strategies implemented to enhance PA among children and adolescents. Funding: None. References: 1Martins et al. 2023. J Phys Act Health, 20(7):573. doi:10.1123/jpah.2023-0099 2Martins et al. 2023. Open Science Framewor. doi:https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0099