In this sample and setting, fundamental movement skills were significantly associated with habitual physical activity, but the association between the two variables was weak. The present study questions whether the widely assumed relationships between motor skills and habitual physical activity actually exist in young children.

Objective To assess whether a physical activity intervention reduces body mass index in young children. Design Cluster randomised controlled single blinded trial over 12 months. Setting Thirty six nurseries in Glasgow, Scotland. Participants 545 children in their preschool year, mean age 4.2 years (SD 0.2) at baseline. Intervention Enhanced physical activity programme in nursery (three 30 minute sessions a week over 24 weeks) plus home based health education aimed at increasing physical activity through play and reducing sedentary behaviour. Main outcome measure Body mass index, expressed as a standard deviation score relative to UK 1990 reference data. Secondary measures were objectively measured physical activity and sedentary behaviour; fundamental movement skills; and evaluation of the process. Results Group allocation had no significant effect on the primary outcome measure at six and 12 months or on measures of physical activity and sedentary behaviour by accelerometry. Children in the intervention group had significantly higher performance in movement skills tests than control children at six month follow-up (P = 0.0027; 95% confidence interval 0.3 to 1.3) after adjustment for sex and baseline performance. Conclusions Physical activity can significantly improve motor skills but did not reduce body mass index in young children in this trial. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN36363490.

PurposeThe number of cancer survivors has risen substantially due to improvements in early diagnosis and treatment. Health behaviours such as physical activity (PA) and diet can reduce recurrence and mortality, and alleviate negative consequences of cancer and treatments. Digital behaviour change interventions (DBCIs) have the potential to reach large numbers of cancer survivors.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analyses of relevant studies identified by a search of Medline, EMBASE, PubMed and CINAHL. Studies which assessed a DBCI with measures of PA, diet and/or sedentary behaviour were included.ResultsFifteen studies were identified. Random effects meta-analyses showed significant improvements in moderate-vigorous PA (seven studies; mean difference (MD) = 41 min per week; 95% CI 12, 71) and body mass index (BMI)/weight (standardised mean difference (SMD) = −0.23; 95% CI −0.41, −0.05). There was a trend towards significance for reduced fatigue and no significant change in cancer-specific measures of quality of life (QoL). Narrative synthesis revealed mixed evidence for effects on diet, generic QoL measures and self-efficacy and no evidence of an effect on mental health. Two studies suggested improved sleep quality.ConclusionsDBCIs may improve PA and BMI among cancer survivors, and there is mixed evidence for diet. The number of included studies is small, and risk of bias and heterogeneity was high. Future research should address these limitations with large, high-quality RCTs, with objective measures of PA and sedentary time.Implications for cancer survivorsDigital technologies offer a promising approach to encourage health behaviour change among cancer survivors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11764-017-0632-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.