title: The effect of a school-centered multicomponent intervention on daily physical activity and sedentary behavior in primary school children: The Active Living study.
abstract: The aim of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of a school-centered multicomponent PA intervention, called 'Active Living', on children's daily PA levels. A quasi-experimental design was used including 9 intervention schools and 9 matched control schools located in the Netherlands. The baseline measurement took place between March-June 2013, and follow-up measurements were conducted 12months afterwards. Accelerometer (ActiGraph, GT3X+) data of 520 children aged 8-11years were collected and supplemented with demographics and weather conditions data. Implementation magnitude of the interventions was measured by keeping logbooks on the number of implemented physical environmental interventions (PEIs) and social environmental interventions (SEIs). Multilevel multivariate linear regression analyses were used to study changes in sedentary behavior (SB), light physical activity (LPA) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) between baseline and follow-up. Finally, effect sizes (ESs) were calculated using Cohen's d. No pooled effects on PA and SB were found between children exposed and not exposed to Active Living after 12months. However, children attending Active Living schools that implemented larger numbers of both PEIs and SEIs engaged in 15 more minutes of LPA per weekday at follow-up than children in the control condition (ES=0.41; p<.05). Moreover, children attending these schools spent less time in SB at follow-up (ES=0.33), although this effect was non-significant. No significant effects were found on MVPA. A school-centered multicomponent PA intervention holds the potential to activate children, but a comprehensive set of intervention elements with a sufficient magnitude is necessary to achieve at least moderate effect sizes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Academic Collaborative Center for Public Health Limburg, Public Health Services, P.O. Box 2022, 6160 HA Geleen, The Netherlands; School of Sports Studies, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 347, 5600 AH Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: d.vankann@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: D H H
authors.initials: DHH
authors.lastname: Van Kann
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, Nutrition and Translational Research Institute Maastricht (NUTRIM), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: s.kremers@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: S P J
authors.initials: SPJ
authors.lastname: Kremers
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, School of Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands; Academic Collaborative Center for Public Health Limburg, Public Health Services, P.O. Box 2022, 6160 HA Geleen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: n.devries@maastrichtuniversity.nl.
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.affiliation: The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Research group Healthy Lifestyle in a Supporting Environment, P.O. Box 13336, 2501 EH The Hague, The Netherlands. Electronic address: s.i.devries@hhs.nl.
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.affiliation: Academic Collaborative Center for Public Health Limburg, Public Health Services, P.O. Box 2022, 6160 HA Geleen, The Netherlands; Department of Health Services Research, School of Public Health and Primary Care (CAPHRI), Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: maria.jansen@ggdzl.nl.
authors.forename: M W J
authors.initials: MWJ
authors.lastname: Jansen
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D009426:Netherlands; D012107:Research Design; D012574:Schools; D057185:Sedentary Behavior
keywords: Accelerometry; Children; Intervention; Longitudinal; Physical activity; Physical environment; Primary school; Quasi-experimental research design; Sedentary behavior; Social environment