The effect of school recess interventions on physical activity: a systematic review

The effect of school recess interventions on physical activity: a systematic review Background The benefits of physical activity to maintain optimal health and well-being in children and adolescents are undisputed. The school environment offers opportuni- ties for children to be physically active. Objective The aim of this review is to systematically examine the effects of recess-based interventions on the physical activity (PA) levels of school-aged children and adolescents. Data Sources A systematic literature search was con- ducted to identify papers reporting interventions to pro- mote PA during school recess and/ or lunchtime periods. The search was conducted in six databases (PubMed, SPORTDiscusTM, Web of Science, Proquest, Cochrane and Scopus) for papers published between January 2000 and April 2011. Study Selection Articles were included in the review if (i) they reported the findings of an intervention targeting PA levels of children and/or adolescents during school recess and/or lunchtime; (ii) have a measure of PA as an outcome variable; (iii) participants were aged between 5 and 18 years; and (iv) were published in English. Methods Two authors independently searched the litera- ture using the same search strategies to identify papers reporting interventions that promote PA during school recess and lunchtime periods. Methodologica