In-classroom physical activity breaks program among school children in Sri Lanka: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

D L I H K Peiris; Yanping Duan; Corneel Vandelanotte; Wei Liang; Julien Steven Baker

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2024.1360210

In-classroom physical activity breaks program among school children in Sri Lanka: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Front Public Health. 2024 Apr 22:12:1360210. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1360210. eCollection 2024.

Authors

D L I H K Peiris¹, Yanping Duan¹, Corneel Vandelanotte², Wei Liang³, Julien Steven Baker¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Faculty of Social Sciences, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China.
² Physical Activity Research Group, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia.
³ School of Physical Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.

Abstract

Background: The problem of sedentary behavior among primary school children is alarming, with numbers gradually increasing worldwide, including Sri Lanka. Physical activity interventions within classroom settings have been acknowledged as a critical strategy to increase students' movement behaviors while enhancing their academic achievement and health. Yet, the busy curriculum and challenging educational demands encourage more sedentary classroom behavior. Hence, this study aims to develop and evaluate an in-classroom physical activity breaks (IcPAB) intervention among fifth graders in Sri Lanka.

Methods: The study will adopt a randomized controlled trial (RCT), comprising an in-classroom physical activity breaks program group and a control group to evaluate the effects of IcPAB on academic achievement, movement behaviors and health outcomes. The intervention design is based on the capability (C), opportunity (O) and motivation (M) behavior (B) (COM-B) model. A least 198 fifth graders will be recruited from two schools in Uva province, Sri Lanka. The recruitment process will start in late 2022. Class teachers of the intervention group will implement 5-min activity breaks at least three times a day after completing a training session. The primary variables include mathematics and reading achievement. The secondary variables include physical activity levels, steps count, sedentary behavior, body mass index, aerobic fitness, and perceived stress. Data collection will be implemented at pre-test and post-test, respectively. Intervention fidelity and the process will also be evaluated.

Discussion: The IcPAB is designed to prevent pure educational time loss by introducing curriculum-integrated short bouts of physical active breaks into the classroom routine. If the IcPAB is effective, it can (1) improve the mathematics and reading achievement of fifth-grade girls and boys, which is a significant factor determining the performance at the Grade Five National Scholarship Examination in Sri Lanka; (2) improve movement behaviors as well as physical and mental health outcomes among primary school students. Sequentially, the IcPAB will enrich school-based physical activity intervention approaches which can in turn bring academic and health benefits to primary school children in Sri Lanka.

Trial registration: The first version of the trial was registered with the ISRCTN registry (Ref: ISRCTN52180050) on 20/07/2022.

Keywords: academic achievement; behavior change wheel; fifth graders; health outcomes; in-classroom physical activity breaks.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

Child
Exercise*
Female
Health Promotion / methods
Humans
Male
School Health Services
Schools*
Sedentary Behavior
Sri Lanka
Students*

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. The current study is supported by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (PF19-33094).