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. 2020 Mar 17;18(1):62.
doi: 10.1186/s12916-020-01539-4.

A citizen science study of short physical activity breaks at school: improvements in cognition and wellbeing with self-paced activity

Josephine N Booth  1 , Ross A Chesham  2 , Naomi E Brooks  2 , Trish Gorely  3 , Colin N Moran  2
Affiliations

A citizen science study of short physical activity breaks at school: improvements in cognition and wellbeing with self-paced activity

Josephine N Booth et al. BMC Med. .

Abstract

Background: School-based physical activity and running programmes, such as The Daily Mile™, are increasing in popularity globally. The aim of this research was to examine the acute impact of such classroom physical activity breaks on cognition and affective wellbeing.

Methods: A total of 5463 school pupils from 332 schools took part in a citizen science project with a repeated measures design. They completed tasks of cognition (inhibition, verbal, and visuo-spatial working memory) and the Children's Feeling Scale and Felt Arousal Scale before and after three different outdoor activities: a classroom break of 15 min of self-paced activity, a near maximal exhaustion activity (the bleep test), and a no-exercise control group where pupils sat or stood outside. Wellbeing and fitness were examined as mediators of the relationship between outdoor activity and cognition.

Results: Fifteen minutes of self-paced outdoor activity was beneficial for pupils' cognition and wellbeing in comparison to both other activities (Cohen's d effect sizes ranging from 0.04 to 0.22; small). The relationship with cognition was not mediated by participants' fitness level and was only partially mediated by wellbeing. Change scores for alertness were higher after the bleep test compared to the control activity but similar for all other outcomes.

Conclusions: Taking a break from the classroom to complete 15 min of self-paced physical activity should be considered a worthwhile activity by class teachers, school management, and policymakers. Additionally, more intense physical activity should not be considered to be detrimental.

Keywords: Acute physical activity; Children; Cognition.

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Conflict of interest statement

JB and CM currently sit on the research advisory group for The Daily Mile™ Foundation but did not at the time of study design and data collection. They receive no payment or expenses for this, and their role is to advise concerning research priorities only. The Daily Mile™ Foundation had no role in the present research. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

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Fig. 1
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