Key result
School-based physical activity interventions significantly increased cardiorespiratory fitness in children (Hedges' g 0.22; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.30; p<0.001).
Why the study?
Do school-based physical activity programs improve cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy children aged 3-12 years?
Population
20 RCTs pooling 7,287 healthy children aged 3-12 years
Comparison
School-based physical activity interventions… vs Control group
Design
Meta-analysis
Authors
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School-based programmes may improve children's CRF; confirms moderate-quality RCT evidence for policy and further trials.
Meta-Analysis (n=7,287)
Do school-based physical activity programs improve cardiorespiratory fitness in healthy children aged 3-12 years?
Standardized Mean Difference: 0.22 (95% CI 0.14–0.3)
p-value: p=<0.001
School-based physical activity programs provide a small but significant improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness in children, driven primarily by benefits in girls.
Pozuelo‐Carrascosa et al. (2017) conducted a meta-analysis in healthy children (n=7,287). School-based physical activity programmes was evaluated on cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) (Hedges' g 0.22, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.30, p=<0.001). School-based physical activity interventions significantly increased cardiorespiratory fitness in children (Hedges' g 0.22; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.30; p<0.001).
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