ReviewBrain sciences2021
Active School Breaks and Students' Attention: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.
Review in Brain sciences, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Classroom Movement Breaks in Relation to Health and Academic Outcomes: An Umbrella Review.The Journal of school health · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of active breaks on attention and executive function in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of school-based active breaks on classroom behavior, executive functions and physical fitness in children and adolescent: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Gamified Health Promotion in Schools: The Integration of Neuropsychological Aspects and CBT-A Systematic Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2024Pooled it
- Evaluation of feasibility, effectiveness, and sustainability of school-based physical activity "active break" interventions in pre-adolescent and adolescent students: a systematic review.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of In-Classroom Physical Activity Breaks on Children's Academic Performance, Cognition, Health Behaviours and Health Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of Physical Exercise Breaks on Executive Function in a Simulated Classroom Setting: Uncovering a Window into the Brain.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Trial
- Classroom Active Breaks Effects on Attention and Concentration Performance Among Adolescents Attending Upper Secondary Schools in Southern Italy.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Acute Cognitive Effects of Brief Physical Activity Breaks After Lecture-Based Academic Activity in Undergraduate University Students: A Randomized Crossover Study.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Voices on a multicomponent school-based physical activity intervention: a qualitative study with school leaders, teachers, and students from the MOVESCHOOL study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Enhancing Physical Literacy Domains Through the Spectrum of Teaching Styles in Recess-Based Active Breaks: A Single-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Exercise Interventions and Attentional Performance in Children and Adolescents: Evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials.Sports (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Fifteen-minute recess freestyle rope skipping enhances classroom attention in junior high school students in the context of healthy school development: mechanisms and implications.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Enhancing Academic Performance, Cognitive Functions, and Mental Well-Being Through Active Breaks: Evidence from a Pilot Study with University Student Sample.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Active Breaks Enhance Complex Processing Speed, Math Performance, and Physical Activity in Primary School Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Active Breaks in Primary and Secondary School Children and Adolescents: The Point of View of Teachers.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
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- Effects of plyometric-based structured game active breaks on fundamental movement skills, muscular fitness, self-perception, and actual behaviour in primary school students.Biology of sport · 2024Article
- Workplace active breaks for university workers: the UNIFIT pilot study protocol.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
School physical activity breaks are currently being proposed as a way to improve students' learning. However, there is no clear evidence of the effects of active school breaks on academic-related cognitive outcomes. The present systematic review with meta-analysis scrutinized and synthesized the literature related to the effects of active breaks on students' attention. On January 12th, 2021, PubMed, PsycINFO, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, and Web of Science were searched for published interventions with counterbalanced cross-over or parallel-groups designs with a control group, including school-based active breaks, objective attentional outcomes, and healthy students of any age. Studies' results were qualitatively synthesized, and meta-analyses were performed if at least three study groups provided pre-post data for the same measure. Results showed some positive acute and chronic effects of active breaks on attentional outcomes (i.e., accuracy, concentration, inhibition, and sustained attention), especially on selective attention. However, most of the results were not significant. The small number of included studies and their heterogeneous design are the primary limitations of the present study. Although the results do not clearly point out the positive effects of active breaks, they do not compromise students' attention. The key roles of intensity and the leader of the active break are discussed. INPLASY registration number: 202110054.
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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.