Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Controlled Clinical Trial
. 2014 Oct 27:15:353.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2474-15-353.

A 3-year school-based exercise intervention improves muscle strength - a prospective controlled population-based study in 223 children

Fredrik Detter  1 , Jan-Åke Nilsson, Caroline Karlsson, Magnus Dencker, Björn E Rosengren, Magnus K Karlsson
Affiliations
Controlled Clinical Trial

A 3-year school-based exercise intervention improves muscle strength - a prospective controlled population-based study in 223 children

Fredrik Detter et al. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. .

Abstract

Background: Intense physical activity (PA) improves muscle strength in children, but it remains uncertain whether moderately intense PA in a population-based cohort of children confers these benefits.

Methods: We included children aged 6-9 years in four schools where the intervention school increased the school curriculum of PA from 60 minutes/week to 40 minutes/school day while the control schools continued with 60 minutes/week for three years. We measured muscle strength, as isokinetic Peak Torque (PT) (Nm) of the knee flexors in the right leg at speeds of 60°/second and 180°/second, at baseline and at follow-up, in 47 girls and 76 boys in the intervention group and 46 girls and 54 boys in the control group and then calculated annual changes in muscle strength. Data are provided as means with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: Girls in the intervention group had 1.0 Nm (0.13, 1.9) and boys 1.9 Nm (0.9, 2.9) greater annual gain in knee flexor PT at 60°/second, than girls and boys in the control group. Boys in the intervention group also had 1.5 Nm (0.5, 2.5) greater annual gain in knee flexors PT at 180°/second than boys in the control group.

Conclusion: A 3-year moderately intense PA intervention program within the school curriculum enhances muscle strength in both girls and boys.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00633828.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow-chart of the study participants.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ara I, Vicente-Rodriguez G, Jimenez-Ramirez J, Dorado C, Serrano-Sanchez JA, Calbet JA. Regular participation in sports is associated with enhanced physical fitness and lower fat mass in prepubertal boys. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2004;28:1585–1593. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0802754. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Behm DG, Faigenbaum AD, Falk B, Klentrou P. Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology position paper: resistance training in children and adolescents. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2008;33:547–561. doi: 10.1139/H08-020. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Boreham CA, McKay HA. Physical activity in childhood and bone health. Br J Sports Med. 2011;45:877–879. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2011-090188. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Anderson J, Parker W, Steyn NP, Grimsrud A, Kolbe-Alexander T, Lambert EV, Mciza Z. In Interventions on Diet and Physical Activity: What Works: Summary Report. Geneva: WHO Guidelines Approved by the Guidelines Review Committee; 2009.
    1. Bailey DA, McKay HA, Mirwald RL, Crocker PR, Faulkner RA. A six-year longitudinal study of the relationship of physical activity to bone mineral accrual in growing children: the university of Saskatchewan bone mineral accrual study. J Bone Miner Res Off J Am Soc Bone Miner Res. 1999;14:1672–1679. doi: 10.1359/jbmr.1999.14.10.1672. - DOI - PubMed
Pre-publication history
    1. The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here:http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2474/15/353/prepub

Publication types

Associated data