0000000001158168
AUTHOR
David R. Lubans
Tensions and Paradoxes of Scaling Up : A Critical Reflection on Physical Activity Promotion
Background: Achieving system-level, sustainable ‘scale-up’ of interventions is the epitome of successful translation of evidence-based approaches in population health. In physical activity promotion, few evidence-based interventions reach implementation at scale or become embedded within systems for sustainable health impact. This is despite the vast published literature describing efficacy studies of small-scale physical activity interventions. Research into physical activity scale-up (through case-study analysis; evaluations of scale-up processes in implementation trials; and mapping the processes, strategies, and principles for scale-up) has identified barriers and facilitato…
Investigating the direct and indirect effects of a school-based leadership program for primary school students: Rationale and study protocol for the ‘Learning to Lead’ cluster randomised controlled trial
Background Leadership is a valuable skill that can be taught in school, and which may have benefits within and beyond the classroom. Learning to Lead (L2L) is a student-led, primary school-based leadership program whereby older ‘peer leaders’ deliver a fundamental movement skills (FMS) program to younger ‘peers’ within their own school. Aim The aims of the study are to determine the efficacy of a peer-led FMS intervention on: (i) peer leaders’ (aged 10 to 12 years) leadership effectiveness (primary outcome), leadership self-efficacy, well-being, and time on-task in the classroom; (ii) peers’ (aged 8 to 10 years) physical activity levels, actual and perceived FMS competency, cardiorespirato…
Evaluation of the peer leadership for physical literacy intervention : A cluster randomized controlled trial
Purpose The purpose of this research was to develop, implement, and test the efficacy of a theory-driven, evidence-informed peer leadership program for elementary school students (Grade 6 and 7; age 11–12 years) and the Grade 3/4 students with whom they were partnered. The primary outcome was teacher ratings of their Grade 6/7 students’ transformational leadership behaviors. Secondary outcomes included: Grade 6/7 students’ leadership self-efficacy, as well as Grade 3/4 motivation, perceived competence, general self-concept, fundamental movement skills, school-day physical activity, and program adherence, and program evaluation. Methods We conducted a two-arm cluster randomized controlled t…
Optimising the effects of physical activity on mental health and wellbeing: A joint consensus statement from Sports Medicine Australia and the Australian Psychological Society
Objectives Participation in physical activity can improve mental health and well-being, but effects are mixed. This consensus statement from Sports Medicine Australia and the Australian Psychological Society aims to provide guidance to practitioners on the ways that physical activity can be promoted to maximise benefits to mental health. Method Following the Clinical Consensus Statement protocol, an expert group comprised of eight members with expertise in physical activity and mental health articulated recommendations regarding five physical activity contextual factors: type, physical environment, delivery, domain, and social environment. Results To optimise the mental health benefits of p…
Fundamental Movement Skills: An Important Focus
Purpose:Recent international conference presentations have critiqued the promotion of fundamental movement skills (FMS) as a primary pedagogical focus. Presenters have called for a debate about the importance of, and rationale for teaching FMS, and this letter is a response to that call. The authors of this letter are academics who actively engage in FMS research.Method:We have answered a series of contentions about the promotion of FMS using the peer reviewed literature to support our perspective.Results:We define what we mean by FMS, discuss the context of what skills can be considered fundamental, discuss how the development of these skills is related to broader developmental health cont…
Count- versus MAD-based accelerometry-assessed movement behaviors and associations with child adiposity and fitness
usc Estimations of time spent sedentary and in various physical activity intensities may vary according to data reduction methods applied. This study compared associations between children's accelerometer data and adiposity and fitness markers using open source (mean amplitude deviation, MAD) and proprietary (counts) data reduction methods. Complete-case accelerometer, adiposity (Body Mass Index z-score, waist circumference), and fitness (cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal) data from 118 children (10.4 ± 0.6 years, 49% girls) were analyzed. Estimates of sedentary behavior, light-, moderate-, vigorous- (VPA), and moderate- to vigorous-intensity (MVPA) physical activity were calculated using …
A scalable school‐based intervention to increase early adolescents' motor competence and health‐related fitness
Schools are key settings for the promotion of students' physical activity, fitness, and motor competence. The purpose of our study was to investigate the efficacy of a 5-month-long intervention program that aimed to increase students' motor competence and health-related fitness during school days. We conducted a quasi-experimental study with 325 Finnish Grade 5 (Mage = 11.26, SD = 0.33) students from five schools. Two schools were allocated to the intervention group and three schools to the control group. The intervention consisted of three components: (a) weekly 20 min session during regular PE lessons, (b) weekly 20 min session during recess, and (c) daily 5-minute-long classroom activity…
A systematic review and meta-analysis of the benefits of school-based, peer-led interventions for leaders
The aim of our systematic review and meta-analysis was to quantitatively synthesise the effects of school-based peer-led interventions on leaders’ academic, psychosocial, behavioural, and physical outcomes. Eligible studies were those that: (i) evaluated a school-based peer-led intervention using an experimental or quasi-experimental study design, (ii) included an age-matched control or comparison group, and (iii) evaluated the impact of the intervention on one or more leader outcomes. Medline, Sportdiscus, Psychinfo, Embase, and Scopus online databases were searched on the 24th of October, 2022 which yielded 13,572 results, with 31 included in the narrative synthesis and 12 in the meta-ana…
Count‐ versus MAD‐based accelerometry‐assessed movement behaviors and associations with child adiposity and fitness
Estimations of time spent sedentary and in various physical activity intensities may vary according to data reduction methods applied. This study compared associations between children’s accelerometer data and adiposity and fitness markers using open source (mean amplitude deviation; MAD) and proprietary (counts) data reduction methods. Complete-case accelerometer, adiposity (Body Mass Index z-score, waist circumference), and fitness (cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal) data from 118 children (10.4±0.6 years, 49% girls) were analysed. Estimates of sedentary behaviour, light-, moderate-, vigorous- (VPA) and moderate- to vigorous-intensity (MVPA) physical activity were calculated using count-…