School-Based Physical Activity Interventions in Prevocational Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses

Abstract

Literature detailing the effectiveness of school-based physical activity promotion interventions in prevocational adolescents was reviewed to identify effective intervention characteristics. Methods: The search strategy assessed studies against inclusion criteria study design, study population, school setting, language, and construct. The risk of bias of the included studies was assessed, and extractions were made of the physical activity (PA) level outcome measures and intervention characteristics regarding organizational, social, and content features. A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the overall effect of the interventions on the PA level. Identification of effective intervention characteristics was done by subgroup analyses. Meta-regression analysis was performed with PA level as dependent variable and intervention characteristics as covariates. Results: A total of 40 eligible studies was included for meta-analyses. Among the included studies, the overall intervention effect on increasing the PA level of prevocational adolescents was weak (standardized mean difference [SMD] .19, 95% confidence interval [CI] .12e.27). Intervention characteristics that improve the effect size to a moderate level were intracurricular PA (SMD .43, 95% CI .19e.68), involving school staff in an intracurricular intervention (SMD .37, 95% CI .16e.58) and a tailored intracurricular intervention (SMD .35, 95% CI .13e.58). Meta-regression analysis confirmed PA as a positive predictor. Conclusions: The effect of a school-based PA intervention was small to moderate. A sensible choice in the assembly of a multicomponent school-based PA intervention increases the effectiveness considerably. Physical education teachers, school administrators, and policy makers should consider organizational (intracurriculum, short and medium duration), personal (tailoring, participation), social (school staff) and content (PA) determinants.

School-Based Intervention Programs for Preventing Obesity and Promoting Physical Activity and Fitness: A Systematic Review

“…In order to increase the participation of children in PA in schools and to prevent obesity effectively, it is necessary to increase the active time in physical education courses, to diversify the content of the course, to reevaluate the teacher qualifications and the number of students, to examine the effectiveness of programs for recess, in-school activity, extracurricular activities and school teams. Some systematic studies conducted in this respect have shown that school-based interventions can be effective in preventing obesity and promoting PA [29][30][31]. On the other hand, there are also studies in which variables such as obesity, PA and sedentary behavior are measured and no significant development can be observed [23,32,33].…”

The German Basic Psychological Needs Satisfaction in Physical Education Scale: Adaption and Multilevel Validation in a Sample of Sixth-Grade Girls

“…Programs that promote children's and adolescents' PA are needed from an early age on [6]. The school setting provides the opportunity to implement appropriate programs [7], since every child and adolescent, independent of age and SES, is necessarily involved in activities embedded in the curriculum. Physical education (PE) teachers are well suited to motivate and educate children in adopting an active and healthy lifestyle, but how this support works in practice is in need of clearer definition in the context of PE.…”

What do we know about physical activity interventions in vocational education and training? A systematic review

“…While numerous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of PA promotion measures in school, university, and workplace settings [22][23][24][25][26], research is lacking about their effectiveness in the VET context. Notwithstanding, VET is a promising setting for PA promotion, as VET programs have a wide reach among adolescents and young adults, providing the opportunity to raise awareness of PA and health at an early stage of life [20,27].…”