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 .
Girls on the Move Program to Increase Physical Activity Participation
Background : Because physical inactivity poses serious health risks , interventions are urgently needed to reverse the increasingly sedentary lifestyles of adolescent girls . Objective : The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of " Girls on the Move , " an individually tailored computerized physical activity ( PA ) program plus nurse counseling intervention , in increasing PA . Methods : A pretest-posttest control group design was used with 77 racially diverse sedentary girls in Grade s 6 , 7 , and 8 from two middle schools . Each of the instructional grade s was r and omly assigned to either an intervention or control condition . After completing computerized question naires , each girl in the control group received a h and out listing the PA recommendations . To encourage PA , each girl in the intervention group received computerized , individually tailored feedback messages based on her responses to the question naires , individual counseling from the school 's pediatric nurse practitioner ( PNP ) , and telephone calls and mailings from a trained research assistant . At 12 weeks , girls in both groups responded to the question naires . Results : No differences in self-reported PA emerged between the intervention and control groups at Weeks 1 ( baseline ) and 12 ( postintervention ) . Repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant interaction between group and time for social support for PA , F(1 , 69 ) = 5.73 , p = .019 , indicating that the intervention group had significantly greater social support across time than did the control group . From baseline to postintervention , social support increased for the intervention group but decreased for the control group . Discussion : Reasons for the lack of significant differences between the groups on the PA measures were cited . Important information that could inform subsequent studies that test interventions to increase youth PA was acquired from conducting this study . Future efforts to increase PA participation might include this approach for enhancing social support for PA
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 .