title: The impact of an after-school physical activity program on health-related fitness of mother/daughter pairs: CASPIAN study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effectiveness of parental support and involvement in a low-cost intervention for the improvement of health-related fitness of high school girls through an after-school physical activity (PA) program.
  
  
  METHODS
  This multi-site study was conducted in 2006-2007 in 7 provinces in Iran. The study population comprised of two groups of children. The first group consisted of 206 children who were randomly selected from female students (7th-10th grade) and their mothers (n=204). Another 60 children (without their mothers) were randomly selected as the control group. Overall, during 12 weeks, 24 sessions of after-school aerobic exercise were held. Health-related fitness data were collected pre- and post-intervention.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The findings are based on 470 participants. The after-school PA significantly improved body mass index, resting heart rate, cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility and muscle strength and endurance in children in both groups, and in mothers. Improvement in the physiological measures of the children in the mother/daughter group was significantly better than the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that after-school PA may provide an effective model for improving the health-related fitness of high school girls and their mothers. Our data show that family support, including mother's participation, contributes to enhanced health-related achievements in adolescent girls.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kargarfard
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kelishadi
authors.forename: Vahid
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ziaee
authors.forename: Gelayol
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ardalan
authors.forename: Farzin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Halabchi
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mazaheri
authors.forename: Parinaz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Poursafa
authors.forename: Mohammad R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Hayatbakhsh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers; D053580:Muscle Strength; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000379:methods; D010809:Physical Fitness; D012574:Schools