A pilot study investigating the effects of a classroom-based physical activity intervention on executive function, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in 8-12-year-old children
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Project Abstract
In Hong Kong, as well as globally, children fail to meet the current physical activity recommendations of 60-minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. Childhood and adolescence are critical periods for developing favourable lifestyle behaviours that can continue into adulthood. Health-promoting interventions that target physical inactivity are vitally important. Researchers have repeatedly demonstrated that higher academic achievement and better attendance at school occurs among children who are more physically active, healthy and fit. To promote improvements in health and education, it is essential to recognize movement as assistive to establishing cognitive and social skills. The current study aims to implement the Activity Breaks intervention and evaluate its effectiveness on outcome measures of executive function (EF), physical activity (PA), and sedentary behaviour (SB) in school children. The Activity Breaks intervention is a 5-minute Activity Breaks programme that allows classroom teachers of all ages and ability levels to lead simple movement activities within their classrooms, negating the need for additional personnel or space. It is expected that the 5-minute Activity Breaks programme performed three times a day over 8 weeks will not only increase daily PA, but also decreases SB through interrupting prolonged sitting time. The Activity Breaks Programme also improves executive functioning among primary school-aged children.
This study will be a pilot clustered randomised controlled trial involving 8 primary schools in Hong Kong. One class from each school will be recruited from primaries 4-6 (8-11-year-old children) as our target population. Schools randomised into the intervention will receive the Activity Breaks Programme whereas schools assigned to the control group will continue to receive their normal daily instruction.
Data will be collected from all participants (intervention and control) at three time points: Time 1 (T1) (baseline), Time 2 (T2) (Post-intervention), and Time 3 (T3) (3-month follow-up). The following pupil measures will be captured at all time points: 1. EF; 2. PA levels and SB patterns using accelerometers; and 3. anthropometric measurements. Two measures will be conducted among teachers including teacher interviews and teacher fidelity checks conducted using log books. All analyses will be performed using IBM SPSS statistical programmes. Multi-level modelling regression analyses with repeated measures will be used to determine the effects of the intervention. A mixed-design ANOVA with time (pre, post and follow-up) as a within-subject variable and group (intervention and control) as a between-subjects variable will be conducted, while adjusting for age, gender and body mass index.
Project Team Members
Principal Investigator
Prof. Julien BAKER (Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, HKBU)
Co-Investigators
- Dr. Wendy Yajun HUANG (Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, HKBU)
- Dr. Yang GAO (Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, HKBU)
- Dr. Kuan-chou CHEN (Department of Sport Management, National Taiwan University of Sport)
- Dr. Duncan BUCHAN (School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland)
- Dr. Linda LD ZHONG (School of Chinese Medicine, HKBU)
Research Fellow
- Dr. Wei LIANG (Centre for Health and Exercise Science Research, HKBU)
- Dr. Feifei LI (Centre for Health and Exercise Science Research, HKBU)
- Dr. Rashmi SUPRIYA (Centre for Health and Exercise Science Research, HKBU)
Research Outputs
Related Publications
- Liu J, Spakowicz DJ, Ash GI, Hoyd R, Ahluwalia R, Zhang A, Lou S, Lee D, Zhang J, Presley C, Greene A, Stults-Kolehmainen M, Nally LM, Baker JS, Fucito LM, Weinzimer SA, Papachristos AV, Gerstein M. Bayesian structural time series for biomedical sensor data: A flexible modeling framework for evaluating interventions. PLoS Comput Biol. 2021 Aug 23;17(8):e1009303. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009303. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34424894.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009303 - Wang M, Ying J, Ugbolue UC, Buchan DS, Gu Y, Baker JS. Cardio-Metabolic Risk Factors in Scottish South Asian and Caucasian Youth. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 27;18(9):4667. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094667. PMID: 33925726; PMCID: PMC8125757.
https://www.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18094667 - Wang A, Gao Y, Wang J, Tong TK, Sun Y, Yu S, Zhao H, Zou D, Zhang Z, Qi Y, Zuo N, Bu D, Zhang D, Xie Y, Baker JS. Effects of a School-Based Physical Activity Intervention for Obesity and Health-Related Physical Fitness in Adolescents With Intellectual Disability: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2021 Mar 22;10(3):e25838. doi: 10.2196/25838. PMID: 33749611; PMCID: PMC8088867.
https://www.doi.org/10.2196/25838
