Long-term effects of daily physical education throughout compulsory school on duration of physical activity in young adulthood: an 11-year prospective controlled study. Issue 1 (10th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lahti, Amanda; Rosengren, Björn E; Nilsson, Jan-Åke; Karlsson, Caroline; Karlsson, Magnus K
• Is Part Of: BMJ open sport & exercise medicine. Volume 4:Issue 1(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-04-10
• Subjects: children -- physical activity -- physical education -- sedentary activity; Sports medicine -- Periodicals; Exercise therapy -- Periodicals; 617.102705
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjsem-2018-000360
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2055-7647

Abstract

Abstract : Objectives: We examined whether daily physical activity (PA) during compulsory school encourages children to be more physically active during the intervention and 4 years after termination of the programme. Methods: This prospective controlled intervention study followed the same 124 children (81 children in an intervention group and 43 controls) aged 7.7±0.6 (mean±SD) during a 7-year PA intervention and 4 years after the intervention when the children were 18.7±0.3 years old. The intervention included daily school physical education (PE) (200 min/week), whereas the controls continued with the Swedish standard of 60 min/week. Using a questionnaire, we gathered data about total PA, leisure time PA and sedentary activities (SA). Group comparisons are adjusted for age and gender, and data are provided as means with 95% CIs. Results: At baseline, we found similar duration of PA and SA between groups. After a mean of 7 years with intervention, the intervention group was more physically active than the controls (+4.5 (2.9 to 6.0) hours/week), whereas SA was similar (+0.6 (−2.5 to 3.9) hours/week). Four years beyond the intervention, the intervention group was still more physically active than the controls (2.7 (0.8 to 4.7) hours/week), and SA was still similar (−3.9 (−9.7 to 1.7) hours/week). Conclusions: Intervention with daily school PE throughout compulsory school is associated with higher duration of PA not only during the intervention but also 4 years after termination of the programme.