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Cited by 52Physical Activity and HealthChildren's Physical and Motor DevelopmentObesity, Physical Activity, Diet

Effect of a 20-week physical activity intervention on selective attention and academic performance in children living in disadvantaged neighborhoods: A cluster randomized control trial

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Gall, Stefanie, Adams, Larissa, Joubert, Nandi, Ludyga, Sebastian, Müller, Ivan, Nqweniso, Siphesihle, Pühse, Uwe, du Randt, Rosa +6 more·2018·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0206908PMC PMC6224098
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of a 20-week school-based physical activity intervention program on academic performance and selective attention among disadvantaged South African primary school children. DESIGN: Cluster randomized control trial. METHODS: The study cohort included 663 children from eight primary schools, aged 8-13 years. Data assessment took place between February 2015 and May 2016 following the implementation of a 20-week school-based physical activity program. The d2 test was employed to assess selective attention, while the averaged end-of-year school results (math, life skills, home language, and additional language) were used as an indicator of academic performance. Physical fitness was assessed using the 20-m shuttle run test (VO2 max) and grip strength tests. We controlled for cluster effects, baseline scores in selective attention or academic performance, and potential confounders, such as children's age, gender, socioeconomic status, self-reported physical activity (as determined by a pre-tested questionnaire), body mass index, hemoglobin (as a proxy for anemia, as measured by blood sampling), and soil-transmitted helminth infections (as assessed by the Kato-Katz technique). RESULTS: Our multivariate analysis suggested that the physical activity intervention had a positive effect on academic performance (p = 0.032), while no effect was found on selective attention (concentration performance; p = 0.469; error percentage; p = 0.237). After controlling for potential confounders, the physical activity condition contributed to the maintenance of academic performance, whereas a decrease was observed in learners in the control condition. Furthermore, physically active and fit children tend to have better concentration performance (CP) than their less fit peers (self-reported activity; p<0.016, grip strength; p<0.009, VO2 max p>0.021). CONCLUSION: A 20-week physical activity intervention contributes to the maintenance of academic performance among socioeconomically deprived school children in South Africa. School administrators should ensure that their school staff implements physical activity lessons, which are a compulsory component of the school by the curriculum.

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  • Gall et al.'s multifaceted physical activity intervention, incorporating physical education lessons, active breaks, and active academic lessons, had a significant positive effect on academic performance compared to children receiving physical education lessons in isolation.

    “A study conducted by Gall et al. [40] increased PA through a multifaceted PA intervention design, incorporating PE lessons, active breaks, and active academic lessons. The intervention had a significant (p = 0.032), positive effect on academic performance compared to children receiving PE lessons in isolation.”

    From The Effects of Physical Activity on Academic Performance in School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [40]

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  • Gall et al. [40] and García-Hermoso et al. [50] found no significant (p > 0.5) intervention effect on cognitive performance compared to a control condition (group receiving regular PE lessons).

    “Likewise, studies conducted by Gall et al. [40] and García-Hermoso et al. [50] found no significant (p > 0.5) intervention effect on cognitive performance compared to a control condition (group receiving regular PE lessons).”

    From The Effects of Physical Activity on Academic Performance in School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [40]

    The Results report no significant intervention effect on selective attention, and the Methods say the control group followed its routine physical-education curriculum. However, the reported p-values are 0.469 and 0.237, not greater than 0.5; the paper also reports a significant effect on academic performance (p = 0.032). (LLM, conf=0.91)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Gall et al.'s study only included participants from a low-socioeconomic background, and Reed et al. only included participants from an ethnic minority.

    “notably, Gall et al.’s [40] study only included participants from a low-socioeconomic background, whilst Reed et al. [41] only included participants from an ethnic minority.”

    From The Effects of Physical Activity on Academic Performance in School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [40]

  • Of the eight studies that analysed effects on academic performance, four used grades in academic subjects, three used standardised test results, one measured mastery of the basic facts test, and one analysed mathematics and reading performance with the speed test arithmetic and the 1 min test.

    “Of the eight studies that analysed the effects on academic performance, four used grades in academic subjects [40,48,49,50]; meanwhile, three studies utilised standardised test results [43,49,55], one took measurements of the student’s mastery of the basic facts test [47], and one analysed mathematics and reading performance with the speed test arithmetic and the 1 min test [45].”

    From The Effects of Physical Activity on Academic Performance in School-Aged Children: A Systematic Review (2023) · cites this paper as [40]

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4 of the 66 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. [32]Inchley J, Currie D, others. Growing up unequal: Gender and socioeconomic differences in young people's health and well-being. Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study: International report from the 2013/2014 survey. Health Policy for Children and Adolescents. 2016; 7: 276-.
  2. [56]Adsiz E, Dorak F, Ozsaker M, Vurgun N. The influence of physical activity on attention in Turkish children. Healthmed. 2012; 6(4): 1384– 9.

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Authors
Gall, S., Adams, L., Joubert, N., Ludyga, S., Müller, I., Nqweniso, S., Pühse, U., du Randt, R., Seelig, H., Smith, D., Steinmann, P., Utzinger, J., Walter, C., & Gerber, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Basel (CH)
  • Nelson Mandela University (ZA)
  • Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (CH)
Corresponding author
Gall, Stefanie
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2018-11-08
Volume
13
Issue
11
Pages
e0206908
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0206908
PMC
PMC6224098
OpenAlex
W2900243945
Cited by
52
References
66
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6
FWCI
4.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • edoc (University of Basel) (acceptedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Nelson Mandela University Research Repository (submittedVersion)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • edoc (University of Basel)
Funders
Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (CH) (IZLSZ3 149015)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Children's Physical and Motor Development
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
Keywords
school-based physical activity intervention, selective attention, academic performance, elementary school students, disadvantaged neighborhoods, socioeconomic deprivation, physical fitness, VO2max, grip strength, concentration performance, anemia, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, South Africa
MeSH terms
Academic Performance, Adolescent, Attention, Child, Female, Helminthiasis, Humans, Male, Physical Fitness, School Health Services, Social Class, South Africa, Exercise, Body Mass Index, Vulnerable Populations

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