Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31729638›Full record

SynthesisSports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.)2020

Efficacy of School-Based Interventions for Improving Muscular Fitness Outcomes in Adolescent Boys: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Ashley Cox, Stuart J Fairclough, Maria-Christina Kosteli, Robert J Noonan

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
23citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
8.6field-weighted citation impact, top 2% 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

23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 52 citations in OpenAlex.

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  7. The Health and Physical Education Curriculum: Does It Address Muscular Fitness?Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2026
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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

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Ashley CoxMovement Behaviours, Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK. 23730170@edgehill.ac.uk.
Stuart J FaircloughMovement Behaviours, Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK.
Maria-Christina KosteliMovement Behaviours, Health and Wellbeing Research Group, Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK.
Robert J NoonanAppetite and Obesity Research Group, Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Edge Hill University · GBUniversity of Liverpool · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIt has been reported that boys' and girls' physical activity (PA) levels decline throughout adolescence. Boys are at risk of physical inactivity during adolescence; however, in intervention research, they are an under-represented group relative to girls. It is suggested that the school environment may be central to developing interventions that support adolescents in meeting the current PA guidelines. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to investigate the efficacy of school-based physical activity interventions for improving muscular fitness (MF) in adolescent males.

methodsThis systematic review and meta-analysis followed the preferred reporting systems for meta-analyses guidelines and was registered on PROSPERO (Registration number: CRD42018091023). Eligible studies were published in English within peer-reviewed articles. Searches were conducted in three databases, with an additional grey literature search in Google Scholar. Studies investigating MF outcomes were included.

resultsThere were 43 data sets identified across 11 studies, from seven countries. Overall methodological quality of the studies was moderate-to-strong. Interventions targeting MF evidenced a small-to-medium effect (g = 0.32, CI 0.17, 0.48, p < 0.00). Subgroup analyses of MF delivery method resulted in small-to-medium effects: upper limb MF measures (g = 0.28, 95% CI - 0.02, 0.58, p = 0.07), lower limb MF measures (g = 0.28, 95% CI 0.09, 0.68, p = 0.03), combined MF activities (g = 0.24, 95% CI - 0.04 to 0.49, p = 0.05), plyometric activities (g = 0.39, 95% CI 0.09, 0.68, p = 0.01), body weight (g = 0.27, 95% CI - 0.10, 0.65, p = 0.15), and traditional MF methods (g = 0.43, 95% CI 0.09, 0.78, p = 0.01).

conclusionsSchool-based interventions which aimed to increase MF outcomes in adolescent boys demonstrated small-to-moderate effects. Traditional and plyometric methods of resistance training appear to be the most effective form of PA delivery in adolescent males. More quality research is required to assess the impact of MF delivered in the school environment to inform future intervention design.

Indexed as

Physical FitnessPlyometric ExerciseResistance TrainingAdolescentHumansMaleMuscle, SkeletalPhysical Education and TrainingSchools

Identifiers

PMID31729638
PMCPMC7018678
OpenAlexW2986344336

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.