Utilising active play interventions to improve physical activity and fundamental movement skills in children

This thesis was previously held under moratorium from 8 August 2019 until 10 July 2023.This thesis aimed to determine the effects of active play interventions on physical activity and fundamental movement skills (FMS) in children. Active play is “a form of gross motor or total body movement in which young children exert energy in a freely chosen, fun, and unstructured manner”, but is a neglected area of research. This thesis presents four unique papers. Firstly, a systematic review (Chapter 3- published in BMC Public Health) on the effect of active play interventions on children’s physical activity levels, moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA), and FMS. The next two papers, a pragmatic evaluation and feasibility cluster RCT (Chapters 5 and 6) evaluated a school based ‘Active Play’ intervention, which consisted of a 1-hour outdoor physical activity session per week, incorporating 30 minutes of facilitated games and 30 minutes of free play. The pragmatic evaluation (chapter 5- published in Preventive Medicine Reports) aimed to determine the effect of participating in Active Play on school day physical activity, the proportion of time spent in MVPA during a typical session and FMS. The pragmatic evaluation was used to inform a feasibility cluster RCT (chapter 6- submitted to the Journal of Pilot and Feasibility Studies), which explored the feasibility of the Active Play intervention, and presented preliminary findings on four outcomes: physical activity levels, FMS, inhibition, and maths fluency. Paper four (Chapter 7- submitted to the Scottish Educational Review) aims to discuss the benefits of active play, summarise research into active play interventions and reflect on lessons learned for the school-based Active Play intervention. There were three main findings from the present thesis: a) active play is an under researched area that needs greater focus, b) the school-based Active Play intervention is promising (benefits from high amounts of MVPA) and c) children from Scotland have poor FMS.This thesis aimed to determine the effects of active play interventions on physical activity and fundamental movement skills (FMS) in children. Active play is “a form of gross motor or total body movement in which young children exert energy in a freely chosen, fun, and unstructured manner”, but is a neglected area of research. This thesis presents four unique papers. Firstly, a systematic review (Chapter 3- published in BMC Public Health) on the effect of active play interventions on children’s physical activity levels, moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA), and FMS. The next two papers, a pragmatic evaluation and feasibility cluster RCT (Chapters 5 and 6) evaluated a school based ‘Active Play’ intervention, which consisted of a 1-hour outdoor physical activity session per week, incorporating 30 minutes of facilitated games and 30 minutes of free play. The pragmatic evaluation (chapter 5- published in Preventive Medicine Reports) aimed to determine the effect of participating in Active Play on school day physical activity, the proportion of time spent in MVPA during a typical session and FMS. The pragmatic evaluation was used to inform a feasibility cluster RCT (chapter 6- submitted to the Journal of Pilot and Feasibility Studies), which explored the feasibility of the Active Play intervention, and presented preliminary findings on four outcomes: physical activity levels, FMS, inhibition, and maths fluency. Paper four (Chapter 7- submitted to the Scottish Educational Review) aims to discuss the benefits of active play, summarise research into active play interventions and reflect on lessons learned for the school-based Active Play intervention. There were three main findings from the present thesis: a) active play is an under researched area that needs greater focus, b) the school-based Active Play intervention is promising (benefits from high amounts of MVPA) and c) children from Scotland have poor FMS