Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22085440›Full record

Trial reportThe international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity2011

Efficacy of a compulsory homework programme for increasing physical activity and healthy eating in children: the healthy homework pilot study.

Scott Duncan, Julia C McPhee, Philip J Schluter, Caryn Zinn, Richard Smith, Grant Schofield

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
2.5field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

28 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.

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  10. Family-based interventions to increase physical activity in children: a systematic review, meta-analysis and realist synthesis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2016
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  18. The Role of Parental Support and the Students' Opinions in Active Finnish Physical Education Homework.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
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  19. Active Homework: an under-researched element of the active schools concept.German journal of exercise and sport research · 2022
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Scott DuncanCentre for Physical Activity and Nutrition, AUT University, New Zealand. scott.duncan@aut.ac.nz
Julia C McPhee
Philip J Schluter
Caryn Zinn
Richard Smith
Grant Schofield
Auckland University of Technology · NZNational Institute of EducationUniversity of Otago · NZ

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMost physical activity and nutrition interventions in children focus on the school setting; however, evidence suggests that children are less active and have greater access to unhealthy food at home. The aim of this pilot study was to examine the efficacy of a compulsory homework programme for increasing physical activity and healthy eating in children.

methodsThe six-week 'Healthy Homework' programme and complementary teaching resource was developed under the guidance of an intersectoral steering group. Eight senior classes (year levels 5-6) from two diverse Auckland primary schools were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. A total of 97 children (57 intervention, 40 control) aged 9-11 years participated in the evaluation of the intervention. Daily step counts were monitored immediately before and after the intervention using sealed multiday memory pedometers. Screen time, sports participation, active transport to and from school, and the consumption of fruits, vegetables, unhealthy foods and drinks were recorded concurrently in a 4-day food and activity diary.

resultsHealthy Homework resulted in a significant intervention effect of 2,830 steps.day-1 (95% CI: 560, 5,300, P = 0.013). This effect was consistent between sexes, schools, and day types (weekdays and weekend days). In addition, significant intervention effects were observed for vegetable consumption (0.83 servings.day-1, 95% CI: 0.24, 1.43, P = 0.007) and unhealthy food consumption (-0.56 servings.day-1, 95% CI: -1.05, -0.07, P = 0.027) on weekends but not weekdays, with no interactions with sex or school. Effects for all other variables were not statistically significant regardless of day type.

conclusionsCompulsory health-related homework appears to be an effective approach for increasing physical activity and improving vegetable and unhealthy food consumption in children. Further research in a larger study is required to confirm these initial results.

Indexed as

CurriculumDietExerciseChildFemaleHealth BehaviorHealth EducationHealth PromotionHumansMaleNew ZealandPilot ProjectsRewardSchoolsSportsStudents

Identifiers

PMID22085440
PMCPMC3256102
OpenAlexW2129967739

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.