Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33957895›Full record

Trial reportBMC public health2021

Effects of a school-based physical activity intervention on academic performance in 14-year old adolescents: a cluster randomized controlled trial - the School in Motion study.

Runar Barstad Solberg, Jostein Steene-Johannessen, Sigmund Alfred Anderssen, Ulf Ekelund, Reidar Säfvenbom, Tommy Haugen, Sveinung Berntsen, Andreas Åvitsland, Øystein Lerum, Geir Kåre Resaland and 1 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03817047 (A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effect of Increased Physical Education and Physical Activity on Adolescents' Physical and Mental Health, Academic Performance and Learning Environment), which is not on this map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT03817047 nacompletednot on this map

A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the Effect of Increased Physical Education and Physical Activity on Adolescents' Physical and Mental Health, Academic Performance and Learning Environment

TypeinterventionalSponsorNorwegian School of Sport SciencesRan2017 to 2018Enrolled2,045ConditionsPhysical Activity, Academic Achievement, Mental HealthArmsPhysical education, Physical active learning, Physical activity, Be happy
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Trial
  6. Article
  7. Mapping Movement Integration in Secondary Schools: A Scoping Review of Evidence.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
    Article
  8. Review
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
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

11 authors.

Runar Barstad SolbergDepartment of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, PB 4014, Ullevål Stadion, 0806, Oslo, Norway. r.b.solberg@nih.no.
Jostein Steene-JohannessenDepartment of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, PB 4014, Ullevål Stadion, 0806, Oslo, Norway.
Sigmund Alfred AnderssenDepartment of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, PB 4014, Ullevål Stadion, 0806, Oslo, Norway.
Ulf EkelundDepartment of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, PB 4014, Ullevål Stadion, 0806, Oslo, Norway.
Reidar SäfvenbomDepartment of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, PB 4014, Ullevål Stadion, 0806, Oslo, Norway.
Tommy HaugenFaculty of Health and Sport Science, Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, University of Agder, PB 422, 4604, Kristiansand, Norway.
Sveinung BerntsenFaculty of Health and Sport Science, Department of Sport Science and Physical Education, University of Agder, PB 422, 4604, Kristiansand, Norway.
Andreas ÅvitslandDepartment of Education and Sport Science, University of Stavanger, Pb 8600 Forus, 4036, Stavanger, Norway.
Øystein LerumDepartment of Sport, Food and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Sogndal, Box 133, 6851, Sogndal, Norway.
Geir Kåre ResalandCenter for Physically Active Learning, Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Sogndal, 6856, Sogndal, Norway.
Elin KolleDepartment of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, PB 4014, Ullevål Stadion, 0806, Oslo, Norway.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSchool-based physical activity interventions evaluating the effect on academic performance usually includes children. We aimed to investigate the effect of a nine-month, school-based physical activity intervention titled School in Motion (ScIM) on academic performance in adolescents.

methodsThirty secondary schools in Norway were cluster-randomized into three groups: the Physically active learning (PAL) group (n = 10), the Don't worry - Be Happy (DWBH) group (n = 10) or control (n = 10). Target dose in both intervention groups was 120 min/week of additional PA during school hours. Parental consent was obtained from 2084 adolescent students (76%). Standardized national tests in reading and numeracy was conducted at baseline and at the end of the intervention. We used linear mixed model to test intervention effects. We found significant intervention effects in numeracy and reading among students in both interventions when compared with controls.

resultsThe mean difference in change in numeracy was 1.7 (95% CI: 0.9 to 2.5; Cohen's d = 0.12) and 2.0 (95% CI: 1.4 to 2.7; Cohen's d = 0.23) points in favour of students in the PAL and DWBH intervention, respectively. Similar results were found for reading, where the mean difference in change was 0.9 (95% CI 0.2 to 1.6; Cohen's d = 0.06) and 1.1 (95% CI 0.3 to 1.9; Cohen's d = 0.18) points in favour of students in the PAL and DWBH intervention, respectively. When conducting intention to treat analysis with imputed data the estimates were attenuated and some no longer significant.

conclusionThe ScIM study demonstrates that two different school-based PA interventions providing approximately 120 min of additional PA weekly over nine months, significantly improved numeracy and reading performance in 14-year old students compared with controls. However, the results should be interpreted with caution as the effect sizes reported were very small or small and the estimates were attenuated when conducting intention to treat analysis. Despite this, our results are still positive and suggest that PA interventions are viable models to increase academic performance among adolescents.

trial registrationRetrospectively registered (25/01/2019): NCT03817047 .

Indexed as

Academic PerformanceExerciseAdolescentChildHumansNorwaySchool Health ServicesSchoolsStudentsAcademic performanceAdolescentsCluster RCTPhysical activity

Identifiers

PMID33957895
PMCPMC8101111

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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.