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The aim of this review was to describe the effects of acute bouts of physical activity on attention levels of children. A systematic review was performed of English studies from searches in PubMed, Sportdiscus and PsycINFO from 1990 to (May) 2014 according to the PRISMA statement. Only prospective studies of children aged 4-18 years old were included, detailing acute effects of physical activity bouts with the primary outcome attention.One reviewer extracted data on the study characteristics. Two reviewers conducted the methodological quality assessment independently using a criteria checklist, which was based on the Downs and Black checklist for non-randomised studies.Overall the evidence is thin and inconclusive. The methodological differences in study sample (size and age), study design and measurement of attention make it difficult to compare results.There is weak evidence for the effect of acute bouts of physical activity on attention. More experimental studies with a comparable methodology, especially in the school setting, are needed to strengthen this evidence.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-410) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The PLAYgrounds programme was effective in increasing PA levels in children during recess over the course of one school year. Thus, the programme could be used to provide structured PA promotion.

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The best position for a draft swimmer was found to be directly behind an active lead swimmer at a distance of 0.50 m between the toes of lead swimmer and the hands of drafter, with significant reductions in both passive drag and oxygen uptake when drafting.