Abstract
BackgroundMany Australian children are insufficiently active to accrue health benefits and physical activity (PA) levels are consistently lower among youth of low socio-economic position. PA levels decline dramatically during adolescence and evidence suggests that competency in a range of fundamental movement skills (FMS) may serve as a protective factor against this trend.Methods/designThe Supporting Children’s Outcomes Using Rewards Exercise and Skills (SCORES) intervention is a multi-component PA and FMS intervention for primary schools in low-income communities, which will be evaluated using a group randomized controlled trial. The socio-ecological model provided a framework for the 12-month intervention, which includes the following components: teacher professional learning, student leadership workshops (including leadership accreditation and rewards, e.g., stickers, water bottles), PA policy review, PA equipment packs, parental engagement via newsletters, FMS homework and a parent evening, and community partnerships with local sporting organizations. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 6- and 12-months. The primary outcomes are PA (accelerometers), FMS (Test of Gross Motor Development II) and cardiorespiratory fitness (multi-stage fitness test). Secondary outcomes include body mass index [using weight (kg)/height (m2)], perceived competence, physical self-esteem, and resilience. Individual and environmental mediators of behavior change (e.g. social support and enjoyment) will also be assessed. The System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time will be used to assess the impact of the intervention on PA within physical education lessons. Statistical analyses will follow intention-to-treat principles and hypothesized mediators of PA behavior change will be explored.DiscussionSCORES is an innovative primary school-based PA and FMS intervention designed to support students attending schools in low-income communities to be more skilled and active. The findings from the study may be used to guide teacher pre-service education, professional learning and school policy in primary schools.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry No: ACTRN12611001080910
Highlights
Many Australian children are insufficiently active to accrue health benefits and physical activity (PA) levels are consistently lower among youth of low socio-economic position
This is a notable omission because PA levels decline dramatically during adolescence [19,20] and evidence suggests that failure to attain competency may contribute to this decline, whereas competency may serve as a protective factor against this trend [21,22]
This paper provides the rationale and methods for the Supporting Children’s Outcomes Using Rewards Exercise and Skills (SCORES) intervention
Summary
In this paper we described the rationale and study protocol for the SCORES intervention. There is strong evidence that school-based PA interventions are effective in increasing the duration of PA and increasing CRF in children and adolescents, their impact on leisure time PA and FMS is less convincing [14,15,16] Such programs are typically evaluated among youth transitioning from childhood to adolescence, a period of time that is characterized by an erosion of activity patterns [19,74]. Recent well-designed studies [42,43,75], such as the KISS intervention [42] have demonstrated that multi-component school-based interventions can increase PA and CRF in children. These studies have involved daily PE lessons, which may not be feasible in many schools.
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