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Systematic review of acute physically active learning and classroom movement breaks on children’s physical activity, cognition, academic performance and classroom behaviour: understanding critical design features
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To examine the impact of acute classroom movement break (CMB) and physically active learning (PAL) interventions on physical activity (PA), cognition, academic performance and classroom behaviour. Design: Systematic review. Data sources: PubMed, EBSCO, Academic Search Complete, Education Resources Information Center, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, SCOPUS and Web of Science. Eligibility criteria for selecting studies: Studies investigating school-based acute bouts of CMB or PAL on (PA), cognition, academic performance and classroom behaviour. The Downs and Black checklist assessed risk of bias. Results: Ten PAL and eight CMB studies were identified from 2929 potentially relevant articles. Risk of bias scores ranged from 33% to 64.3%. Variation in study designs drove specific, but differing, outcomes. Three studies assessed PA using objective measures. Interventions replaced sedentary time with either light PA or moderate-to-vigorous PA dependent on design characteristics (mode, duration and intensity). Only one study factored individual PA outcomes into analyses. Classroom behaviour improved after longer moderate-to-vigorous (>10 min), or shorter more intense (5 min), CMB/PAL bouts (9 out of 11 interventions). There was no support for enhanced cognition or academic performance due to limited repeated studies. Conclusion: Low-to-medium quality designs predominate in investigations of the acute impacts of CMB and PAL on PA, cognition, academic performance and classroom behaviour. Variable quality in experimental designs, outcome measures and intervention characteristics impact outcomes making conclusions problematic. CMB and PAL increased PA and enhanced time on task. To improve confidence in study outcomes, future investigations should combine examples of good practice observed in current studies. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42017070981.
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“These findings are similar to the study by Daly-Smith and colleagues, where differences in the design, interventions, duration and intensity, and outcomes were detected (84).”
From Does Learning Through Movement Improve Academic Performance in Primary Schoolchildren? A Systematic Review (2022) · cites this paper as [84]
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“We know that PE lessons led by trained PE teachers provides more activity to students than ones led by generalized classroom teachers (25, 88–90).”
From Children's Physical Activity, Academic Performance, and Cognitive Functioning: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (2020) · cites this paper as [25]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Daly-Smith, A. J., Zwolinsky, S., McKenna, J., Tomporowski, P. D., Defeyter, M. A., & Manley, A.
- Affiliations
- Leeds Beckett University (GB)
- University of Georgia (US)
- Northumbria University (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Daly-Smith, Andy J
- ORCID
- Venue
- BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2018-03
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- e000341
- ISSN
- 2055-7647 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC5884342
- OpenAlex
- W2795175278
- Cited by
- 293
- References
- 56
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 50 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 5
- FWCI
- 2.79
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bradford Scholars (University of Bradford) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Leeds Beckett Repository (Leeds Beckett University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › School Health and Nursing Education
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Children's Physical and Motor Development
- Keywords
- physically active learning, children's physical activity, cognition, academic performance, classroom behavior, sedentary time, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, time on task, school-based intervention
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