Full project’s name
Effects of the inclusion of physical activity in academic classes on educational indicators and health markers: the ACTIVE CLASS study
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Principal Investigator
David Sánchez Oliva(1,2,3) & Daniel Camiletti Moirón(1,2)
- GALENO Research Group, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Cadiz, Spain.
- ACAFYDE Research Group, Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.
Timeline
6/1/2020 – 12/31/2023
Other Participants
Tomás García Calvo
ACAFYDE Research Group, Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.
Carmen Padilla Moledo
1. GALENO Research Group, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain
2. Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Cadiz, Spain.
Inmaculada González Ponce
ACAFYDE Research Group, Department of Didactics of Musical, Plastic and Body Expression, Faculty of Sports Sciences, University of Extremadura, Cáceres, Spain.
Alberto Grao Cruces
1. GALENO Research Group, Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, University of Cadiz, Puerto Real, Spain
2. Instituto de Investigación e Innovación Biomédica de Cádiz (INiBICA), Cadiz, Spain.
Abstract
Physical inactivity has been highlighted as one of the main determinants of childhood obesity, and the World Health Organization emphasizes that physical inactivity is considered the fourth risk factor with respect to mortality worldwide. Specifically, it has been observed how during the school day students spend most of their time in sedentary behaviors, so the educational context is an interesting framework to increase the physical activity (PA) levels. The main aim of this project is to develop an intervention program based on the inclusion of PA in academic classes, as well as to evaluate the impact on PA, health, educational, and cognition outcomes.
We will carry out a Randomized Controlled Trial at school level. We estimate the participation of 6 high schools and 300 students from 1st and 2nd degree of secondary stage from Cáceres and Cádiz regions. Schools will be randomized assigned to a control group (n = 2), experimental group I (n = 2), and experimental group II (n = 2). The experimental group I will be characterized by the implementation of 4 active classes per week in Math. The experimental group II will be characterized by the inclusion of a daily active break 10 minutes long. Both interventions will last 12 weeks, and measures will be taken before the intervention, at week 6, in the last week of intervention (week 12), and 8 weeks after the intervention. In each of the data collection, PA and sedentary levels will be assessed by accelerometry, levels of health-related physical fitness through field tests, body composition parameters through anthropometry, academic performance through grades, positive health (quality of life and self-rated health status) by questionnaires and cognition parameters (attention and concentration capacity) through specific cognition tests. Additionally, a qualitative study will also be carried out, with the aim to know the teachers perception regarding the intervention program (interest, barriers, facilities, student perception of learning, future intention to implement, etc.).
This project will be the first national empirical study about physically active classes interventions, and it is expected to verify the positive effects of the intervention to promote healthy lifestyles in adolescents, which will contribute with teaching resources that may be used by teachers in order to increase PA levels and, therefore, improve health during the school day.
Main objective
To test the effects of an intervention programme based on the inclusion of PA in academic classes on PA levels, sedentary time, educational indicators, cognition and health markers in secondary school students.
