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
. 2017 Dec 6:3:69.
doi: 10.1186/s40814-017-0213-0. eCollection 2017.

Action 3:30R: protocol for a cluster randomised feasibility study of a revised teaching assistant-led extracurricular physical activity intervention for 8- to 10-year-olds

Byron Tibbitts  1 , Alice Porter  1 , Simon J Sebire  1 , Chris Metcalfe  2 , Emma Bird  3 , Jane Powell  3 , Russell Jago  1   4
Affiliations

Action 3:30R: protocol for a cluster randomised feasibility study of a revised teaching assistant-led extracurricular physical activity intervention for 8- to 10-year-olds

Byron Tibbitts et al. Pilot Feasibility Stud. .

Abstract

Background: Approximately half of 7-year-old children do not meet physical activity (PA) recommendations. Interventions targeting primary school children's afterschool discretionary time could increase PA. Teaching assistants (TAs) are a school resource and could be trained to deliver after-school PA programmes. Building on earlier work, this paper describes the protocol for a cluster randomised feasibility study of a teaching assistant-led after-school intervention aimed at increasing PA levels of year 4 and 5 children (8-10 years old).

Methods: Phase 1-pre-baseline: 12 schools will be recruited. In all schools, self-reported PA will be measured in all consenting year 3 and 4 children. In four schools, pupils will additionally wear a waist-worn Actigraph accelerometer for 7 days.Phase 2-baseline: schools will be randomised to one of two enhanced recruitment strategies being tested for children: (1) a club briefing and (2) the briefing plus a taster Action 3:30 session. Up to 30 children per school will be able to attend Action 3:30 sessions and will provide baseline data on height, weight, psychosocial variables and accelerometer-measured PA.Phase 3-intervention and follow-up: Schools randomised into intervention or control arm. Intervention schools (n = 6) will receive a 15-week after-school programme when children are in years 4 and 5, run by TAs who have attended a 25-h Action 3:30 training programme. Control schools (n = 6) will continue with normal practice. Follow-up measures will be a repeat of baseline measures at the end of the 15-week intervention.Phase 4-process evaluation: session attendance, perceived enjoyment and perceived exertion will be assessed during the intervention, as well as the economic impact on schools. Post-study qualitative assessments with TAs, school contacts and pupils will identify how the programme could be refined. Accelerometer-determined minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day will be calculated as this is likely to be the primary outcome in a future definitive trial.

Discussion: The Action 3:30 cluster randomised feasibility trial will assess the public health potential of this intervention approach and provide the information necessary to progress to a definitive cluster randomised controlled trial.

Trial registration: ISRCTN34001941. Registered 01/12/2016.

Keywords: Children; Feasibility trial; Intervention; Physical activity; Teaching assistant.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval for the project was received from the Research Ethics Committee of the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol (Ref: SPSREC16-17.B2). Schools must sign a study agreement to be involved. Children must provide written informed parental consent to participate. TAs must provide written informed consent to take part.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CONSORT diagram
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Chief Medical Officers. Start Active, Stay Active: A report on physical activity from the four home countries. London: Department of Health; 2011; p. 1-59.
    1. Strong WB, Malina RM, Blimkie CJ, Daniels SR, Dishman RK, Gutin B, Hergenroeder AC, Must A, Nixon PA, Pivarnik JM, et al. Evidence based physical activity for school-age youth. J Pediatr. 2005;146(6):732–737. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2005.01.055. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Parfitt G, Eston RG. The relationship between children's habitual activity level and psychological well-being. Acta Paediatr. 2005;94(12):1791–1797. doi: 10.1080/08035250500268266. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Griffiths LJ, Cortina-Borja M, Sera F, Pouliou T, Geraci M, Rich C, Cole TJ, Law C, Joshi H, Ness AR, et al. How active are our children? Findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. BMJ Open. 2013;3(8):e002893. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2013-002893. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Twisk JWR, Kemper HCG, Van Mechelen W. The relationship between physical fitness and physical activity during adolescence and cardiovascular disease risk factors at adult age. The Amesterdam growth and Health longitudinal study. Int J Sports Med. 2002;23(suppl):s8–s14. doi: 10.1055/s-2002-28455. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources