NCT06684808

Impact of Active Breaks in Elementary School Children

Impact of Active Breaks in the Classroom on Physical, Mathematical and Cognitive Performance in Elementary School Children

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 159 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Molise · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 6 Years – 8 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of 12 weeks of Active Breaks on motor, academic and cognitive performance in elementary school children.

Detailed description

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of 12 weeks of Active Breaks on motor, academic and cognitive performance in elementary school children. 159 children were recruited: 92 for experimental group (EG) and 67 for Control Group(CG); after the baseline assessment, the EG classes were randomly assigned into three experimental groups: creativity AB (CREAT; n = 30 ), fitness AB (FIT; n =31 ) and combined AB (COM; n= 31 ) . Specifically, the EG carried out an active break intervention for 12 weeks during curricular time, repeated twice a day, with the duration of 10 minutes, three times a week. CG did not performed any type of active breaks.

Conditions

• Physical Performance
• Cognitive Performance
• Academic Acheivement

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Fitness	The Fitness group engaged in active breaks aimed at improving cardiovascular efficiency. These breaks were designed to provide moderate to vigorous physical activity, incorporating both strength and aerobic exercises such as squats, jumping jacks, lunges, and running in place. Children were instructed to imitate the teacher's movements.
OTHER	Creative	The Creative group participated in active breaks that combined cognitive-creative and physical demands, incorporating activities like improvisations, dramatizations of events or short stories, simulation, and imitation games. These activities aimed to stimulate the creative process and enhance emotional expression within environmental constraints. Constraints, set by the teacher-such as specific rules, partner positioning, or speed of execution-limited movement options, encouraging students to explore new solutions to complete each task.
OTHER	Combined	The Combined group took active breaks by combining the Fitness protocol in the first break and the Creative protocol in the second.
OTHER	Control	Regular physical activity at school during the weeks.

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-12-01
• Primary completion: 2024-04-30
• Completion: 2024-05-31
• First posted: 2024-11-12
• Last updated: 2024-11-12

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Italy