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 .
A 3-Year Physical Activity Intervention Program Increases the Gain in Bone Mineral and Bone Width in Prepubertal Girls but not Boys: The Prospective Copenhagen School Child Interventions Study (CoSCIS)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of increasing the amount of time spent in physical education classes on bone mineral accrual and gain in bone size in prepubertal Danish children . A total of 135 boys and 108 girls , aged 6–8 years , were included in a school-based curriculum intervention program where the usual time spent in physical education classes was doubled to four classes ( 180 min ) per week . The control group comprised age-matched children ( 62 boys and 76 girls ) recruited from a separate community who completed the usual Danish school curriculum of physical activity ( 90 min/week ) . Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to evaluate bone mineral content ( BMC ; g ) , bone mineral density ( g/cm2 ) , and bone width at the calcaneus and distal forearm before and after 3 years of intervention . Anthropometrics and Tanner stages were evaluated on the same occasions . General physical activity was measured with an accelerometer worn for 4 days . In girls , the intervention group had a 12.5 % increase ( P = 0.04 ) in distal forearm BMC and a 13.2 % increase ( P = 0.005 ) in distal forearm scanned area compared with girls in the control group . No differences were found between the intervention and control groups in boys . Increasing the frequency of physical education classes for prepubertal children is associated with a higher accrual of bone mineral and higher gain in bone size after 3 years in girls but not in boys
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 .