Active Smarter Kids: A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial (ASK)

October 1, 2019 updated by: Eivind Aadland, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

Active Smarter Kids: A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial Investigating the Effect of Daily Physical Activity on Children's Academic Performance and on Risk Factors for Lifestyle-related Non-communicable Diseases

The relationship between physical activity and academic performance has received widespread attention owing to the pressure on schools to graduate pupils who meet accepted academic standards. As important, there are global concerns regarding the increased prevalence of lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). First, Norway has a history of mediocre scores on international comparative academic performance tests such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) [1]. It is therefore important to develop and evaluate strategic programs that may enhance pupil's academic performance. It is increasingly evident that a physical activity strategy that brings about enhanced cognitive function, better blood flow, and more, plays a key role in this effort [2]. Second, the prevalence of NCDs, such as diabetes mellitus type 2, is increasing worldwide, and such NCDs affect people of all ages [3]. Hence, healthcare costs are escalating to unaffordable levels. The best means to deal with this immense problem is through primary prevention, and physical activity is a powerful common denominator known to play a key role in preventing a host of NCDs [4].

Consequently, both World Health Organization (WHO) and the Norwegian health authorities call for effective primary prevention strategies to promote physical activity in children and adolescents [5, 6]. Prop. 90 L (2010-2011) Act on public health work [6] emphasizes that physical activity in school can benefit both the learning process and public health prevention.

Therefore, the objective of the ASK-study is to investigate the effects on academic performance of 60 minutes of daily physical activity during one school year. Furthermore, due to the complexity in the relationship between physical activity and academic performance, it is necessary to identify possible mediating and moderating variables as cognitive performance, quality of life (QoL), classroom behavior, motor skills and motivation. Also, we aim to investigate changes in risk factors related to NCDs and factors that influence NSDs, such as physical activity, sedentary behavior and health-related fitness.

In addition a qualitative part of the ASK-Study will be conducted to get an in-depth understanding of the children's embodied experiences and the meaning of the social learning culture in school physical activity (PA). This will give us an in-depth description of the intervention context, offer insight in how the intervention possibly influences children's overall development and enables us to estimate potential long term effects of the intervention.

If successful, the ASK cluster-randomized controlled trial (RCT) could provide much needed solutions to enhancing schoolchildren's academic performance and position the school as an effective setting for a massive public health intervention concerning the prevention of NCDs.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

1202

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Norway
    • Sogn Og Fjordane
      • Sogndal, Sogn Og Fjordane, Norway, 6851
        • Sogn og Fjordane University College

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

8 years to 11 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • all children attending 5th grade at the invited schools in Sogn og Fjordane county (Norway) during the school-year 2014/2015

Exclusion Criteria:

  • those children whom for language barriers are unable to perform national tests in Numeracy, Norwegian and English

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control
Experimental: Physical activity
60 minutes of daily physical activity during one school year
Behavioral: Physical activity

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Academic performance
Time Frame: October 2014 - June 2015 (8 months)
Academic performance will be measured by Norwegian "national tests" in Numeracy, Norwegian and English
October 2014 - June 2015 (8 months)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Risk factors for lifestyle-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
Time Frame: August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)
We will measure physical activity, sedentary behavior, health-related physical fitness, measures of adiposity, blood pressure and biomarkers for metabolic health
August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)
Executive functions
Time Frame: August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)
Inhibition, working memory and cognitive flexibility will be assessed by pen-and-paper testing
August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)
Qualitative study of embodied experiences and interpersonal relations
Time Frame: August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)
Qualitative methods will be used to explore how children act in the context of physical education and the ASK-intervention, and how their experiences are constructed in the interaction between individual and social factors. We will also explore to what extent children are capable to reflect over their bodily and social experiences.
August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Quality of life and well-being
Time Frame: August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)
We will measure self-reported physical well-being, psychological well-being, autonomy & parent relation, social support & peers and school environment.
August 2014 - June 2015 (10 months)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences

Collaborators

The Research Council of Norway

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sigmund A Anderssen, PhD, Sogn og Fjordande University College

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

March 1, 2014

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 7, 2014

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 2, 2014

First Posted (Estimate)

May 7, 2014

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 2, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2019

Last Verified

October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • HISF_2014
  • 2013/1893 (Registry Identifier: The South-East A Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (Norway))

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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