SynthesisFrontiers in public health2026
Effectiveness of physical education interventions on physical and mental health in pre- and school-aged children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of school-based physical education interventions for improving pre- and school-aged children's physical and mental health outcomes (3-12 years) and to examine whether effects vary across intervention and outcome types. Method: Following PRISMA 2020 guidelines, an extensive search was conducted in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Registry, and Scopus up to October 2023. Randomized controlled trials evaluating PE- or school-day activity-based interventions targeting physical and/or mental health outcomes in preschool (3-6 years) and school-aged children (6-12 years) were included. Random-effects meta-analysis (REML) was performed using standardized mean differences (SMDs), and heterogeneity was assessed using Q and I Results: Nineteen studies were included in the analysis. The results of the meta-analysis revealed no significant evidence of the effectiveness of these interventions on physical or mental health (1.61, 95CI; -1.37, 4.60; Conclusion: The evidence remains inconclusive due to substantial heterogeneity, variability in intervention content, and differences in outcome measurement. Future trials should adopt standardized outcome measures, improve reporting of intervention implementation, and strengthen methodological rigor to enable more definitive synthesis of physical education intervention effects in children.
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Registered trials
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