Physical Activity Behavior In Children Research Articles

Understanding variations in the built environment over time to inform longitudinal studies of young children's physical activity behaviour - The BEACHES project

We know relatively little about the role the neighbourhood built environment plays in promoting young children's physical activity, particularly its longitudinal effect either through repeated exposure to the same environment or through change in exposure by moving from one neighbourhood to another. This study characterised the neighbourhood environment of young children in the PLAYCE cohort study over three timepoints from 2015 to 2023. There were statistically significant differences in built environment attributes between timepoints and across socio-economic status, however they did not represent practically significant differences. These findings inform the analysis approach of subsequent research in the BEACHES Project, an international study examining the role of the built environment on child physical activity and obesity using multiple cohorts.

Using Qualitative Geospatial Methods to Explore Physical Activity in Children with Developmental Disabilities: A Feasibility Study

Children with developmental disabilities (DDs) experience barriers to physical activity (PA) participation. Greater contextual information regarding their PA behaviors is needed for effective PA promotion. We investigated the feasibility of using activity trackers and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) devices with follow-up interviews to explore PA behaviors in children with DDs. Fifteen children with DDs (aged 10 ± 2 years) wore an activity tracker and GPS device for 7 days. Data were time-aligned to measure PA and identify PA locations. Maps were created to guide follow-up semi-structured interviews with the children and their parents/guardians to understand PA contexts and perceptions of daily PA. The children took 8680 ± 4267 steps/day across 6 ± 1 days. The children provided preferences for PA locations and the parents/guardians gave context by expressing how DDs affect PA and identifying environmental factors in PA locations. The children with DDs who lived near parks, participated in PA that leveraged the strengths of their individual skillsets, and had parents/guardians who provided social support had more positive PA experiences. Combining activity tracking and GPS data with follow-up map-based interviews is feasible to explore PA behaviors and the experiences of children with DDs. This methodology may provide novel insight into daily PA in children with DDs, which can inform how future interventions can support them to be more active and have positive experiences while being active.

Uncovering the roles of automatic attitudes and controlled processes in the regulation of physical activity behavior in children

Despite substantial research efforts to increase engagement in physical activity (PA), children are not sufficiently active. Dual-process theories suggest that PA behavior regulation occurs through both controlled (i.e., reflective, conscious) and automatic (i.e., non-reflective, less conscious) processes. Automatic processes depend on affective valuations and attitudes towards PA and have been shown to predict PA behavior. However, their role in PA behavior regulation in children remains unclear. Therefore, the current study investigated the unique association of automatic attitudes towards PA on self-reported seven-day PA recall, after accounting for the effects of known controlled precursors of PA (i.e., explicit attitudes, PA self-efficacy, and PA intentions). In a cross-sectional design, 69 children (age = 10.8 ± 0.6 years) completed the Single-Category Implicit Association Task (SC-IAT) and self-reported measures of PA and controlled precursors of PA. In a hierarchical regression analysis, controlled processes accounted for 28.3 % of the variance in PA behavior. Although the bivariate association between automatic attitudes and PA was not significant, the association between them became significant but negative in the fully adjusted model (b = −1.70; p = 0.025). The fully adjusted model accounted for 35.0 % of the variance in PA. In summary, the findings indicated that both controlled and automatic processes predicted PA in children, although the association with automatic attitudes was not in the expected direction in the adjusted model. Future studies are warranted to further understand the role of automatic processes in the regulation of PA behavior in children.

Improving physical activity and screen time in Australian Outside School Hours Care: Study protocol.

Children's physical activity and screen time behaviours impact their physical health and well-being. In Australia, less than half of children meet daily physical activity recommendations and only one-third meet daily screen time recommendations. Nearly half a million Australian school children aged 5-12 attend Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) weekly, activities undertaken at OSHC play a key role in meeting these recommendations. Currently, physical activity and screen time practices in OSHC vary and lack policy guidance. The Activated OSHC program is a policy-based intervention that supports OSHC services to implement the physical activity and screen time guidelines. 192 OSHC services across Australia will be recruited. 96 services will be randomly allocated to receive the Activated OSHC program. OSHC coordinators will complete online surveys examining physical activity and screen time scheduling, cost, acceptability, and feasibility. Primary outcome; changes in the proportion of intervention and control services meeting OSHC sector physical activity and screen time guidelines, and secondary outcomes; changes in children's physical activity and screen time behaviours; changes in staff behaviour will be assessed using mixed-effects regression models. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of the Activated OSHC program on children's physical activity and screen time. Recent Australian research in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) has identified significant inconsistency in practices related to physical activity and screen time, compounded by an absence of explicit policy guidance. The Activated OSHC program is a policy-based intervention that supports OSHC services to implement the Australian OSHC physical activity and screen time guidelines. This study will assess the implementation and effectiveness of the Activated OSHC program in an effectiveness-implementation hybrid type 2 trial design. Implementation of outside school hours care sector physical activity and screen time guidelines may improve children's physical activity and screen time behaviours.

Socio-structural determinants of physical activity behavior in children and adolescents: The importance of social support

The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of socio-structural determinants of physical activity (PA) behavior in children and adolescents. We expected that socioeconomic status, social support, and physical environment influence PA directly while socioeconomic status also has an indirect influence via social support and physical environment. Cross-sectional data from the German Motorik-Modul study (MoMo) were used (Wave 2, 2014–2017). The sample consisted of N = 2134 children and adolescents aged 6–17 years. Socioeconomic status, social support, and physical environment were measured by questionnaires. To measure PA, children and adolescents were instructed to wear accelerometers for seven consecutive days. Moderate-to-vigorous activity periods were considered. Path analyses were used to analyze the direct and indirect effects. We calculated two models, one for children (6–10 years) and one for adolescents (11–17 years). Among children (model 1), only social support had a direct effect on PA behavior. In addition, social support influenced the perceived physical environment. Socioeconomic status had an indirect effect on PA via social support. For adolescents (model 2), all assumed relations were significant and in line with the directions expected. Social support had the strongest direct influence on PA behavior. Socioeconomic status had a direct and indirect effect on PA via the physical environment and social support. The study results emphasize the relevance of close, social networks of families and friends as well as social capital, as a source of social support, for PA levels among young age groups.

Exploring Facilitators and Barriers to Physical Activity for Families of Rural Preschoolers Participating in a Motor Skill Program.

While schools provide one opportunity to encourage physical activity, caregivers play an exceedingly important role in creating an environment conducive to preschool children's physical activity. Yet, little is known regarding the perceptions of caregivers, important choice agents for young children's physical activity behavior after participating in a motor skill program. The purpose of this study was to examine caregivers' perceptions of facilitators and barriers to children's physical activity at home among rural, low-income families who participated in a school-based early childhood physical activity program, SKIPping with PALS, designed to increase physical activity and improve motor development. Eleven caregivers consented to participate in a semi-structured interview regarding their perceptions of physical activity and their experience after six months of participation in the program. An inductive, naturalistic evaluation approach was utilized for qualitative data analysis, following the six recursive phases of thematic analysis. A review of the interview transcripts revealed that all caregivers valued physical activity and encouraged their children to be active. Four major facilitators, four major barriers, and an overarching theme of parental support for childhood physical activity were identified. These factors are largely circumstantial and attitudinal and, thus, are difficult to modify but are important to be cognizant of when designing interventions.

Promoting positive physical activity behaviours in children undergoing acute cancer treatment: feasibility of the CanMOVE intervention

BackgroundSupporting children and adolescents with cancer to be physically active can improve medium- and long-term health outcomes. ObjectiveTo assess the feasibility of CanMOVE, a 10-week complex, theoretically-informed, behaviour change intervention to promote physical activity for children and adolescents undergoing acute cancer treatment. MethodsA feasibility study using a single-group, repeated measures, mixed methods design. Participants completed CanMOVE, which included provision of a Fitbit (child/adolescent and carer) and structured support from a physical therapist. Feasibility domains of demand, acceptability, implementation, practicality, limited efficacy, and integration were evaluated. Data sources included service level data, objective assessment of physical activity, physical function, and health-related quality of life; and qualitative data collected via semi-structured interviews with participants and focus groups with staff. ResultsTwenty children/adolescents (median age 13yrs, interquartile-range 9–14) with a mix of cancer diagnoses, 20 parents, and 16 clinicians participated. There was high demand with 95% enrolment rate. CanMOVE was acceptable for participants. All feasibility thresholds set for implementation were met. Under practicality, there were no serious adverse events related to the intervention. Limited efficacy data indicated CanMOVE showed positive estimates of effect in influencing child/adolescent physical activity behaviour, physical function, and health-related quality of life. Positive impacts were also seen in parent and staff attitudes towards physical activity promotion. To improve integration into the clinical setting, it was suggested the duration and scope of CanMOVE could be expanded. ConclusionCanMOVE was feasible to implement in a paediatric cancer setting. CanMOVE is appropriate to be tested in a large-scale trial.

The effect of experiential learning interventions on physical activity outcomes in children: A systematic review.

This systematic review examined the effectiveness of experiential learning interventions for improving children's physical activity knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours. It also aimed to identify intervention characteristics that resulted in the greatest impact. Four databases: Education Research Complete, Scopus, Web of Science and PsychINFO were searched from database inception to January 2023. Eligible studies: (1) included children 0-12 years; (2) assessed the effect of physical activity outcomes on children's physical activity knowledge, attitudes or behaviour and (3) were randomised controlled trials conducted in any setting. Study risk of bias was assessed by two independent reviewers using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Intervention approaches were categorised, and effect sizes were compared across studies for each outcome. Twelve studies were included in the review: ten in school age and two in below five years. For behavioural outcomes, six of eight studies showed medium to large effects (effects size (ES) range: 0.3-0.9), two of the three studies that assessed attitudinal outcomes displayed medium effects (ES range: 0.4-0.5) and both studies that assessed knowledge outcomes displayed medium to large effects (ES range: 0.4-1.3). The two experiential learning interventions among children < 5 years demonstrated small to medium effects on behaviour change (ES range: 0.2-0.5). Effective interventions combined enjoyable practical activities (fitness activities, games and challenges), with behaviour change techniques (goal setting, and self-monitoring), were underpinned by a behaviour change theory, and were often of short duration (< 4 months) but intense (several sessions/week). Moderate to high statistical heterogeneity was observed for behaviour outcomes and risk of bias across studies was generally high. This review provides some evidence supporting the effectiveness of experiential learning interventions in improving physical activity outcomes in school-aged children. Additional evidence is needed in children <5 years old. Future experiential learning interventions need to strengthen the evidence with rigorous methodological quality and clear reporting of the experiential learning components.

Exploring correlates of physical activity behaviour in UK children and their inter-relationships using a multidisciplinary approach: A concept mapping study

ABSTRACT It is still unknown which correlates of physical activity behaviour (PAB) may be effective and how they may influence PAB in UK children. The objective of the current study was to generate a conceptual analysis of the correlates of PAB in UK children (5–12 years) using the input of researchers in the field of physical activity (PA experts; PAE) and other fields (non-PA experts; non-PAE). A concept mapping approach was used to identify potential (new) correlates of PAB in children, assess their importance based on rating of potential modifiability and effect, and generate a concept map depicting the associations between them. In the first (brainstorming) stage (n = 32 experts) yielded 93 correlates, including 14 new correlates not identified in previous reviews. In the second (rating and sorting) stage (n = 26 experts), 32 correlates were rated as important and a four-cluster concept map was generated including themes related to Society/community, Home/social setting, Personal/social setting and Psychological/emotional correlates. Two additional concept maps were generated for PAE and non-PAE. From expert opinion, we identified new correlates of PAB that warrant further research and we highlight the need to consider the interaction between intrapersonal and external correlates when designing interventions to promote PA in UK children.

Long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's physical activity and sedentary behavior.

During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, decreases in physical activity (PA) and increases in sedentary behavior (SB) were reported among children in the United States (U.S.). This follow-up analysis examines 13-month effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's PA and SB one year into the pandemic. Parents of 5-13-year-old children in the U.S. (N=71) reported on their child's PA and SB during the early COVID-19 period (April-May 2020) and again 12-14months later (June-July 2021). Paired t-tests showed significant within-subject reductions in SB minutes per day (M diff=-86.20, t=3.26, p<0.01) but no changes in PA minutes per day. Separate mixed-model repeated-measures analysis of covariance procedures found that within-subject changes in PA and SB did not differ by child sex or age. As COVID-19 restrictions lessened, there were more opportunities for children to reduce SB, but there were still barriers to engage in PA.

Psychological distress and physical activity behaviors among parents and caregivers during different COVID‐19 restriction periods: Secondary analysis of the Active Kids voucher program evaluation

AbstractParents and caregivers who participate in regular physical activity have improved physical and mental health and can influence the physical activity behaviors of children in their care. This study aimed to assess the association between psychological distress and physical activity levels of parents/caregivers in New South Wales, Australia during different COVID‐19 restriction periods. A repeat‐cross‐sectional design was adopted. Parents/caregivers involved in a government‐led children's sport and recreation voucher program were recruited to participate in an online survey as part of the program's evaluation. In response to COVID‐19, parents and caregivers' psychological distress and physical activity levels were assessed using validated items. Binary logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between physical activity and probable mental illness, and differences across different COVID‐19 restriction periods in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, 10,990 parents/caregivers responded to survey questions and in 2021, 17,106 parents/caregivers responded. Parents/caregivers who were physically active on 7 days per week had lower odds of reporting high psychological distress (odds ratio [OR]: 0.40, 95% confidence interval [CIs]: 0.33, 0.49) than parents/caregivers physically active on fewer days per week. In 2020 9.8% of parents/caregivers (n = 1076) reported high psychological distress, which decreased to 8% in 2021 (n = 1366). In 2021, parents/caregivers had lower odds of reporting high psychological distress (OR: 0.79, 95% CIs: 0.72, 0.86). Socioeconomic disadvantage negatively impacted psychological distress and physical activity levels. Australian parents and caregivers who reported high psychological distress, during and after COVID‐19 restrictions, were participating in low levels of physical activity. Greater collaboration between the mental health, and sport and recreation sectors is recommended to harness the co‐benefits of physical activity throughout parenthood, particularly in low socioeconomic areas.

A Systematic Review of the Implementation and Effectiveness of 'The Daily Mile' on Markers of Children's Health.

Currently, a high percentage of children globally fail to meet the World Health Organisation's (WHO) recommended daily physical activity (PA) guidelines. The Daily Mile (TDM) is a school-based PA initiative, designed to improve primary school children's PA behaviour. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the extant TDM implementation process and identify its impact on health-related metrics. Three databases were used to search for articles from the time TDM originated in 2012 until February 2022. The identification and screening process of articles for their ability to meet this review's eligibility criteria were facilitated by use of PRISMA and Rayyan. Sixteen articles from the initial search (n = 202) were deemed eligible for inclusion. An analysis of these articles identified five common outcome categories that permeated throughout the research articles: (1) cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF); (2) anthropometry and body composition; (3) PA; (4) cognition; and (5) process evaluation. Results presented from the included articles suggests TDM positively impacts markers of a variety of health-related metrics, namely CRF and PA. However, implementation barriers including TDM's repetitive nature, time constraints associated with competing curriculum demands and inadequate facilities regularly necessitate the adaptation and development of the original TDM format by schools and teachers.

Associations between parental and pre-adolescents' physical activity and diet quality: The role of parental child care involvement and child's sex

BackgroundResearch has demonstrated the importance of the family environment in the eating and activity levels of offspring. We examined the cross-sectional associations between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and diet quality of parents and the MVPA and diet quality of pre-adolescents. Interactions were tested to assess whether the child's sex and the parental level of involvement in daily child care moderated these associations. MethodsData from 2467 pre-adolescents (age 11.5 ± 0.2 years; collected in 2015–2016) and their parents or caregivers from a large-scale prospective birth cohort study in Amsterdam (ABCD-study) was used. Parents and pre-adolescents individually reported their diet quality and physical activity. Child care involvement was assessed using the Caregiver Child Interaction Scale. With hierarchical linear regression analyses, we assessed the independent contribution of fathers and mothers. ResultsAn association between mother-child MVPA was found (β = 0.013; 95 % CI: 0.006;0.021). The association between father-child MVPA was only significant for highly involved fathers (β = 0.014; 95 % CI: 0.004;0.023). The child's sex did not change these MVPA associations. Regarding diet quality, associations were found between mother-child diet quality score (DQS) (β = 0.254; 95 % CI: 0.192;0.316) and father-child DQS, with stronger associations between fathers and sons (β = 0.234; 95 % CI: 0.169;0.298) than between fathers and daughters (β = 0.114; 95 % CI: 0.047;0.181). Parental levels of involvement did not change these associations. ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that both parental behaviours represent an important factor in physical activity and diet quality in pre-adolescents in a sex-specific manner. As such, it is essential to include both parents in research to obtain the necessary insights for developing effective interventions to promote children's healthy eating and physical activity behaviours.

Development and evaluation of a school-based physical literacy intervention for children in Germany: protocol of the PLACE study.

Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical activity behavior of children has reached a concerning level nowadays. By empowering individuals to be physically active throughout the life course, the concept of physical literacy has recently gained increasing attention and adopts a holistic-integrative perspective on PA promotion. Although the field has successively attempted to translate the conceptual ideas of physical literacy into interventions, the theoretical base is heterogeneous and is often lacking within interventions. Furthermore, several countries, including Germany, have not equally adopted the concept yet. Therefore, the goal of the present study protocol is to describe the development and evaluation approach of a PL intervention ("PLACE") for children in grades three and four within the German all-day schooling system. The physical literacy intervention cultivates explicit theory-content links and comprises 12 heterogeneous sessions (each 60-90 min in length). The study contains three different phases with two initial pilot studies and a subsequent main study. The two pilot studies take a mixed-methods character by drawing on quantitative pre-post-designs as well as interviews with children (in groups). In the main study, we will longitudinally compare the course of PL values (five outcome domains: physical, affective, cognitive, social, behavioral) between two study arms: school classes of children are either assigned to an intervention condition (regular physical education and health care plus PL intervention) or to a control condition (regular physical education and health care only). The findings of this study will provide evidence on how to structure a multicomponent intervention in Germany based on the PL concept. In summary, the results will report on the effectiveness of the intervention and, therefore, decide whether to scale-up the intervention.

Patterns of Physical Activity Parenting Practices and Their Association With Children's Physical Activity Behaviors.

Background: Little is known about how parents combine multiple physical activity (PA) parenting practices (PAPP) and their relationship with their child's activity level. This study examined patterns of PAPP and their associations with sociodemographic characteristics and children's PA. Methods: Parents of 5- to 12-year-olds (n = 618) completed the 65-items PAPP item-bank assessing their use of structured, autonomy promoting, and controlling PAPP, and reported their child's PA. Latent class analysis was used to uncover similar groups of parents based on their use of nine PAPP. Regression analyses evaluated associations between the latent classes, sociodemographic factors, and children's PA. Results: Four latent classes emerged: (1) Indifferent (30%)-parents who were unlikely to use any of the PAPP examined; (2) Coercive (23%)-parents using primarily controlling PAPP; (3) Involved (19%)-parents using most PAPP examined; and (4) Supportive (28%)-parents using primarily structured and autonomy promoting PAPP. Involved parents were younger than Indifferent and Supportive parents. Supportive parents reported the highest level of children's PA compared with all other groups, whereas Coercive parents reported the lowest level of children's PA. Conclusions: Our findings showed that different latent classes exist among Canadian parents and that the combination of structured and autonomy promoting PAPP, when used without control, was associated with the highest PA level among children. The emergent latent classes are novel, theoretically meaningful, and key to inform family-based PA interventions.

Effects of SuperFIT, an overweight-prevention intervention approach, on pre-schoolers’ dietary intake: a pilot study

ABSTRACT SuperFIT aims to improve the dietary and physical activity behaviour of children (2–4 years) in the Dutch childcare and home setting. Healthy parenting practices, policies, and availability of materials, fruits, and vegetables were promoted over the course of a year. This pilot study, with a quasi-experimental design, examined the effectiveness of children’s intake of fruits, vegetables, water, and sweet beverages. Families attending intervention preschools could participate in the partial (preschool) or full (preschool + home) intervention. Parental 24-hour recalls assessed the child’s diet at baseline and two follow-ups. Data from 81 control and 88 intervention children was included in a three-level hierarchical logistic regression. The full intervention showed significantly favourable effects for sweet beverages (B = −1.85, P < 0.05) and unfavourable effects for vegetables (B = −1.94, P < 0.05), compared to the control between the second follow-up and baseline. No significant effects were found for fruit or water, nor for the partial intervention. More research in a larger sample is needed to confirm current findings. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03021980.

Prevalence and socio-demographic distributions of meeting RMI Guidelines for Healthy Living among elementary school children in Majuro, Republic of Marshall Islands: a cross-sectional population-based survey

Childhood obesity is high in Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI). We report the prevalence and socio-demographic distribution of selected obesity-related risk factors among children in Majuro, RMI. Sixteen elementary schools were approached and students and parents in Grades 1, 3, and 5 invited to participate in this cross-sectional population-based survey. Accelerometry and a questionnaire were used to collect data on children's physical activity (PA), sleep, screen time and dietary behaviours. Descriptive statistics and mixed-effects logistic regression were used to examine differences in the proportions of children meeting selected RMI Healthy Living Guidelines by sex, school grade and school sector. Thirteen schools and 958 children were recruited, of which 892 (52.2% girls; mean age 9.3±1.8 years) provided useable data. Around 90% met the PA, 29% screen time, 13% sleep, 69% sugar-sweetened beverage and 56% highly processed food guidelines. The proportion meeting individual guidelines was higher among children in Grade 1 compared with Grade 5. Being a girl (0.27; 95% CI 0.16, 0.46) was associated with lower odds of meeting the PA recommendation. Compared with children from Grade 1, those in Grade 5 had lower odds of meeting the PA (0.28; 95% CI 0.15, 0.55), screen time (0.60; 95% CI 0.40, 0.89), sleep duration (0.33; 95% CI 0.18, 0.59), sugar-sweetened beverage (0.35; 95% CI 0.23, 0.53), and consumption of highly processed foods recommendations (0.49; 95% CI 0.33, 0.72). While most children in RMI are adequately active, resources are needed to promote healthier levels of screen time, sleep, sugar-sweetened beverage and highly processed food consumption, especially among older children. This study was funded by World Diabetes Foundation; Canvasback Missions, RMI; NHMRC Australia (APP1176858); Pacific Community.

Barriers and facilitators to the adoption of physical activity policies in elementary schools from the perspective of principals: An application of the consolidated framework for implementation research-A cross-sectional study.

Studies have shown that policies to promote physical activity in schools can have a positive impact on children's physical activity behavior. However, a large research gap exists as to what determinants may influence the adoption of such policies. Applying the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR), we investigated barriers and facilitators to the adoption of physical activity policies in elementary schools in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany, from the perspective of school principals. A cross-sectional study was conducted between May and June 2021. School principals from elementary and special needs schools (n = 2,838) were invited to participate in the study. The online questionnaire used was developed based on the CFIR and included questions on school characteristics and constructs of the CFIR domains inner setting, characteristics of individuals, and process. Logistic regression analyses were performed to examine associations between policy adoption and school characteristics as well as CFIR determinants. In total, 121 schools (4%) participated in the survey, of which 49 (40.5%) reported having adopted a policy to promote physical activity. Positive associations with policy adoption were found for general willingness among teaching staff [odds ratio (OR): 5.37, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.92-15.05], available resources (OR: 2.15, 95% CI: 1.18-3.91), access to knowledge and information (OR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.09-4.09), and stakeholder engagement (OR: 3.47, 95% CI: 1.24-9.75). This study provides a first insight into potential barriers and facilitators at the organizational level of schools that may be relevant to the adoption of physical activity policies, from the perspective of school principals. However, due to a low response rate, the results must be interpreted with caution. A strength of this study includes theoretical foundation through the use of the CFIR. The CFIR could be well-adapted to the school setting and provided valuable support for developing the questionnaire and interpreting the study results.

Physical Activity Interventions During Childhood and Adolescence: A Narrative Umbrella Review Addressing Characteristics, Conclusions, and Gaps in Knowledge

Given the multifaceted nature of physical activity behavior in children and adolescents, researchers have conducted myriad intervention studies designed to increase physical activity across many populations, study designs, contexts, and settings. This narrative review overviews the characteristics, conclusions, and research gaps/future directions indicated in prior reviews of interventions to promote physical activity in youth and identifies potential knowledge gaps. Seven databases were searched for articles published between January 2012 and September 2022. A predetermined list of characteristics of included reviews was extracted. Reviews (n = 68) concluded that interventions were generally effective. Little attention was paid to implementation, theoretical framework was only addressed in about half of reviews, and only a quarter specifically examined individuals from underrepresented groups. Family, community, and policy work are needed, and overarching reviews such as this study should occasionally occur given the high number of reviews focusing on specific populations or settings.

Qualitative changes in children's physical activity and sedentary behaviours throughout the COVID-19 pandemic: The HomeSPACE project.

Opportunities for children to be physically active during the COVID-19 pandemic were limited, resulting in a decrease in overall physical activity and an increase in sedentary behaviour during the lockdown restrictions of the pandemic. This study further explored these changes across various stages of the restrictions, starting during the first UK-wide lockdown in March 2020 through to the "new normal" in December 2021. Nine families, consisting of eleven children (36% girls, 64% boys; aged 13.38 years ± 1.14), eight mothers and one father were tracked throughout this time, using semi-structured interviews to explore the fluctuations in physical activity and sedentary behaviour in the home environment in the context of self-determination theory. Findings indicate that as restrictions eased, physical activity within the home decreased, as children were exposed to more opportunities at school and in the community; these opportunities seemingly increased children's motivation to be physically active through increasing levels of their basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Some children's physical activity levels have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, with a newfound enjoyment for being physically active. Whilst others now prefer to pursue more sedentary behaviours that became habitual during the lockdown restrictions. Accessible opportunities now need to be promoted to drive up children's motivations to be physically active following the years of uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.