There was some evidence that school-based physical activity interventions had a positive impact on four of the nine outcome measures .
Specifically positive effects were observed for duration of physical activity , television viewing , VO2 max , and blood cholesterol .
Generally , school-based interventions had little effect on physical activity rates , systolic and diastolic blood pressure , BMI , and pulse rate .
At a minimum , a combination of printed educational material s and changes to the school curriculum that promote physical activity result ed in positive effects .
Few changes in outcomes were observed in this up date with the exception of blood cholesterol and physical activity rates .
For example blood cholesterol was no longer positively impacted upon by school-based physical activity interventions .
The evidence suggests the ongoing implementation of school-based physical activity interventions at this time , given the positive effects on behavior and one physical health status measure .
BACKGROUND The World Health Organization ( WHO ) estimates that 1.9 million deaths worldwide are attributable to physical inactivity and at least 2.6 million deaths are a result of being overweight or obese .
In addition , WHO estimates that physical inactivity causes 10 % to 16 % of cases each of breast cancer , colon , and rectal cancers as well as type 2 diabetes , and 22 % of coronary heart disease and the burden of these and other chronic diseases has rapidly increased in recent decades .
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence of the effectiveness of school-based interventions in promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents .
Physical activity and clustered cardiovascular risk in children: a cross-sectional study (The European Youth Heart Study)
BACKGROUND Atherosclerosis develops from early childhood ; physical activity could positively affect this process . This study 's aim was to assess the associations of objective ly measured physical activity with clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors in children and derive guidelines on the basis of this analysis . METHODS We did a cross-sectional study of 1732 r and omly selected 9-year-old and 15-year-old school children from Denmark , Estonia , and Portugal . Risk factors included in the composite risk factor score ( mean of Z scores ) were systolic blood pressure , triglyceride , total cholesterol/HDL ratio , insulin resistance , sum of four skinfolds , and aerobic fitness . Individuals with a risk score above 1 SD of the composite variable were defined as being at risk . Physical activity was assessed by accelerometry . FINDINGS Odds ratios for having clustered risk for ascending quintiles of  physical activity  ( counts per min ; cpm ) were 3.29 ( 95 % CI 1.96 - 5.52 ) , 3.13 ( 1.87 - 5.25 ) , 2.51 ( 1.47 - 4.26 ) , and 2.03 ( 1.18 - 3.50 ) , respectively , compared with the most active quintile . The first to the third quintile of physical activity had a raised risk in all analyses . The mean time spent above 2000 cpm in the fourth quintile was 116 min per day in 9-year-old and 88 min per day in 15-year-old children . INTERPRETATION  Physical activity  levels should be higher than the current international guidelines of at least 1 h per day of physical activity of at least moderate intensity to prevent clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors
There was some evidence that school-based physical activity interventions had a positive impact on four of the nine outcome measures .
Specifically positive effects were observed for duration of physical activity , television viewing , VO2 max , and blood cholesterol .
Generally , school-based interventions had little effect on physical activity rates , systolic and diastolic blood pressure , BMI , and pulse rate .
At a minimum , a combination of printed educational material s and changes to the school curriculum that promote physical activity result ed in positive effects .
Few changes in outcomes were observed in this up date with the exception of blood cholesterol and physical activity rates .
For example blood cholesterol was no longer positively impacted upon by school-based physical activity interventions .
The evidence suggests the ongoing implementation of school-based physical activity interventions at this time , given the positive effects on behavior and one physical health status measure .
BACKGROUND The World Health Organization ( WHO ) estimates that 1.9 million deaths worldwide are attributable to physical inactivity and at least 2.6 million deaths are a result of being overweight or obese .
In addition , WHO estimates that physical inactivity causes 10 % to 16 % of cases each of breast cancer , colon , and rectal cancers as well as type 2 diabetes , and 22 % of coronary heart disease and the burden of these and other chronic diseases has rapidly increased in recent decades .
OBJECTIVES The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence of the effectiveness of school-based interventions in promoting physical activity and fitness in children and adolescents .