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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Nov 21;19(22):15409.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph192215409.

Active School-Based Interventions to Interrupt Prolonged Sitting Improve Daily Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Marta Amor-Barbosa  1 , Anna Ortega-Martínez  1   2 , Andoni Carrasco-Uribarren  1 , Maria Caridad Bagur-Calafat  1
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Active School-Based Interventions to Interrupt Prolonged Sitting Improve Daily Physical Activity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Marta Amor-Barbosa et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Sedentary behavior (SB) is a negative routine for health, especially during advancing age. Promoting an active lifestyle and reducing SB is a global endeavor. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of active school-based programs to interrupt prolonged sitting for daily physical activity (PA) and daily SB in children and adolescents.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted. Clinical trials analyzing the effect of interrupting prolonged sitting with active breaks and classroom-based PA were included. Studies that implemented PA in class without interrupting prolonged sitting or those that implemented multimodal interventions were excluded. A systematic search was conducted in 6 databases: Medline, WOS, Cochrane Library, SPORTDiscus, CINAHL and EMBASE. Primary outcomes were daily PA and daily SB, while moderate-to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was considered a secondary outcome.

Results: Six studies were included, with a total of 976 participants between 6-14 years. The interventions were heterogeneous in duration of the sitting time interruption (5-30 min), frequency (1-3 times per-day up to three times per-week) and total duration (five days to three years). 50% of the studies scored "high risk" of bias. Three meta-analyses were performed for daily PA, MVPA and SB, showing a significant improvement in the daily PA and MVPA.

Conclusions: School-based programs aimed to interrupt prolonged sitting could be a good strategy to improve daily PA and MVPA levels. (Registration number: CRD42022358933).

Keywords: adolescents; children; daily physical activity; moderate-to-vigorous physical activity; school; sedentary behavior; sitting interruption.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The flow diagram.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Forest Plot of daily PA [19,21,22].
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest Plot of daily SB [21,22].
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest Plot of daily MVPA [19,20,21,22].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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