ArticleBMC public health2019
The Daily Mile as a public health intervention: a rapid ethnographic assessment of uptake and implementation in South London, UK.
Article in BMC public health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of the Implementation and Effectiveness of 'The Daily Mile' on Markers of Children's Health.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Barriers and facilitators to implementing community-based physical activity interventions: a qualitative systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2021Pooled it
- "Their Bodies Were Made to Move and Wriggle Right from the Word Go": A Qualitative Exploration of Family Engagement with Fundamental Movement Skills in Early Childhood.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Using natural experiments to evaluate population health and health system interventions: new framework for producers and users of evidence.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2025Article
- Comparing the impact of "The Daily Mile™" vs. a modified version on Irish primary school children's engagement and enjoyment in structured physical activity.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Article
- Evaluating the Perceived Health-Related Effectiveness of 'The Daily Mile' Initiative in Irish Primary Schools.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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- Case study research and causal inference.BMC medical research methodology · 2022Review
- The case for prioritizing implementation strategy fidelity measurement: benefits and challenges.Translational behavioral medicine · 2022Article
- The Daily Mile in practice: implementation and adaptation of the school running programme in a multiethnic city in the UK.BMJ open · 2021Article
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- Sociodemographic profiles, educational attainment and physical activity associated with The Daily Mile™ registration in primary schools in England: a national cross-sectional linkage study.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2021Article
- Does Additional Physical Education Improve Exam Performance at the End of Compulsory Education? A Secondary Analysis from a Natural Experiment: The CHAMPS-Study DK.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- An Evaluation of the Implementation of a UK School-Based Running Program.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- The Effect of The Daily Mile on Primary School Children's Aerobic Fitness Levels After 12 Weeks: A Controlled Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- The Daily Mile Is Able to Improve Cardiorespiratory Fitness When Practiced Three Times a Week.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Protocol for a systematic review of the use of qualitative comparative analysis for evaluative questions in public health research.Systematic reviews · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundExisting evidence identifies health benefits for children of additional daily physical activity (PA) on a range of cardiovascular and metabolic outcomes. The Daily Mile (TDM) is a popular scheme designed to increase children's PA within the school day. Emerging evidence indicates that participation in TDM can increase children's PA, reduce sedentarism and reduce skinfold measures. However, little is known about the potential effects of TDM as a public health intervention, and the benefits and disbenefits that might flow from wider implementation in 'real world' settings.
methodsWe aimed to identify how TDM is being implemented in a naturalistic setting, and what implications this has for its potential impact on population health. We undertook a rapid ethnographic assessment of uptake and implementation in Lewisham, south London. Data included interviews (n = 22) and focus groups (n = 11) with stakeholders; observations of implementation in 12 classes; and analysis of routine data sources to identify school level factors associated with uptake.
resultsOf the 69 primary schools in one borough, 33 (48%) had adopted TDM by September 2018. There were no significant differences between adopters and non-adopters in mean school population size (means 377 vs 397, P = 0.70), mean percentage of children eligible for free school meals (16.2 vs 14.3%, P = 0.39), or mean percentage of children from Black and Minority Ethnic populations (76.3 vs 78.2%, P = 0.41). Addressing obesity was a key incentive for adoption, although a range of health and educational benefits were also hypothesised to accrue from participation. Mapping TDM to the TIDierR-PHP checklist to describe the intervention in practice identified that considerable adaption happened at the level of borough, school, class and pupil. Population health effects are likely to be influenced by the interaction of intervention and context at each of these levels.
conclusionsExamining TDM in 'real world' settings surfaces adaptions and variations in implementation. This has implications for the likely effects of TDM, and points more broadly to an urgent need for more appropriate methods for evaluating public health impact and implementation in complex contexts.
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