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 .
Health and nutrition education in primary schools of Crete: changes in chronic disease risk factors following a 6-year intervention programme.
The effectiveness of a health and nutrition education programme , in changing certain chronic disease risk factors , was assessed after the 6 years intervention period was completed . The school-based intervention programme was applied to all children registered in the first grade ( age 5.5 - 6.5 years ) in 1992 in two counties of Crete , while the children from a third county served as a control group . In order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention , a variety of biological and behavioural parameters were measured before and following completion of the intervention in a r and omly selected school-based sample of 602 intervention group ( IG ) and 444 control group ( CG ) pupils . At the end of the 6-year period , it was found that biochemical indices generally improved significantly more in the IG compared with the CG ( mean change for IG v. CG was -0.27 v. -0.12 mmol/l for total cholesterol ( TC ) ; -0.07 v. + 0.24 for TC : HDL and -0.13 v. + 0.14 for LDL : HDL ) . Similarly , the changes observed in the anthropometric variables in the two groups were in favour of the IG ( + 3.68 v. + 4.28 kg/m2 for BMI ; + 2.97 v. + 4.47 mm for biceps skinfold ) . Total energy intake and consumption of total fat and saturated fat increased significantly less in the IG compared with the CG ( + 747.7 v. 1534.7 kJ ( + 178.7 v. + 366.8 kcal ) ; + 5.9 v. + 18.8 g and + 0.8 v. + 5.1 g respectively ) , while time devoted to leisure time physical activity and cardiovascular run test performance increased significantly more in the IG ( + 281 v. + 174 min/week and + 2.5 v. + 1.2 stages respectively ) . The findings of the present study underline the importance of such programmes in health promotion and disease prevention . Although the long-term effects of these programmes can only be assessed by tracking this population through to adolescence and adulthood , these programmes seem to have the potential to lead to a healthier lifestyle and thus a reduction in risk factor levels
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 .