ArticleBMC public health2025
Effects of a structured after-school physical activity program on physical fitness, body composition, and sleep in primary school students: a pilot quasi-experimental study.
Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Study on the influence of school active break on children's physical activity level and classroom on-task concentration.Frontiers in public health · 2026Trial
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6 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundPhysical inactivity is a significant public health issue among children. As compulsory physical education (PE) alone is often insufficient, structured after-school physical activity (PA) programs have been proposed as a complement. This pilot study evaluated a 12-week after-school PA program under China’s ‘Double Reduction’ Policy, assessing its effects on fitness, body composition, physical activity, and sleep in primary school students.
methodsThirty-four fourth-grade students from a primary school in Beijing were nonrandomly assigned to a control group (CG, n = 16, regular PE classes) or an experimental group (EG, n = 18, regular PE classes plus a structured after-school PA program, 5 times/week, 40 min/session) on the basis of their willingness to participate. Outcomes were assessed at baseline, mid-intervention, and post-intervention. The primary outcome was the 50 m×8 shuttle run. Secondary outcomes included fitness and agility measures, body composition, accelerometer-based physical activity, and sleep parameters. The data were analyzed via covariance (ANCOVA), one-way repeated-measures ANOVA, t-tests, and non-parametric tests.
resultsCompared to the CG, the EG showed significantly greater improvement in the primary outcome, the 50 m×8 shuttle run (mean difference [MD] = -8.48 s, 95% CI: -16.02 to -0.93). The EG also demonstrated superior improvements in key secondary outcomes, including the overall physical fitness composite score (MD = -0.49, 95% CI: -0.71 to -0.27), the overall agility composite score (MD = -0.43, 95% CI: -0.81 to -0.05), 50 m sprint (MD = 1.72 s, 95% CI: 1.20 to 2.23), and body weight (MD = 1.00 kg, 95% CI: 0.14 to 1.85). Time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), excluding the intervention hours, significantly increased within the EG (F = 8.270, P < 0.01). However, no significant changes of sleep parameters were found from baseline to post-intervention in the EG (all P > 0.05).
conclusionThe 12-week structured after-school PA program proved to be a feasible and effective strategy for enhancing physical fitness, improving body composition, and increasing daily MVPA among primary school students within the “Double Reduction” policy context.
trial registrationThis study was registered prospectively in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR) on December 30, 2022 (Registration number: ChiCTR2200067241).
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