According to a 2019 World Health Organization (WHO) report, four out of five young people attending school do not get enough exercise in everyday life. Overall, 81 percent of all people between the ages of 11 and 17 do not engage in adequate amounts of physical activity.
A publication by the Associate Professorship of Educational Science in Sport and Health headed by Prof. Dr. Yolanda Demetriou is now dedicated to addressing this problem. The paper entitled “Effects of school-based interventions on motivation towards physical activity in children and adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis” has been published in “Psychology of Sport & Exercise”. The journal has an impact factor of 2.827.
Anne Kelso, Research Associate at the Associate Professorship of Educational Science in Sport and Health, acted as first author. In addition, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Klug, head of the Chair of Epidemiology, and Prof. Demetriou were also involved in the systematic review and meta-analysis.
“The publication is part of the 'Enriched Sport Activities Program (ESA)' project,” says Kelso. “This is an Erasmus+ funded project to analyze the effects of cognitively enriched movement activities on students' motor abilities and cognitive performance."
The aim of the review was to examine the effects of school-based interventions aimed at promoting physical activity among school-aged children and young people. The main focus was the participants' motivation. Furthermore, the effects on the pupils' movement behaviour were also analysed. The interventions were carried out during physical education classes, during breaks or during normal lessons.
A total of 57 studies from the 2001 to 2018 period were included in the systematic review. Sixteen individual meta-analyses were carried out on the basis of this data, demonstrating significant effects on a total of ten variables, including the following three aspects - “joy”, “perceived autonomy” or “intrinsic motivation”. The results of the meta-analyses suggest that school-based interventions to promote physical activity can be effective in terms of increasing motivation to engage in physical activity. The findings also indicate that interventions can increase the activity levels among children and young people both during their physical education as well as their leisure time.
"Motivation is a central key to increased physical activity among children and adolescents and this study demonstrates that motivation to engage in physical activity can be improved with the aid of appropriate intervention measures in a school setting," summarizes Anne Kelso. "This also includes positive changes in 'goal orientation' and the 'teaching climate'."
“The systematic review and meta-analysis are an important part of the 'Enriched Sport Activities Program' project”, explains Prof. Demetriou, Head of the Associate Professorship of Educational Science in Sport and Health. “Moreover, our institute's other projects are also based on this research area, for example, we are investigating how to increase physical activity levels among female sixth-graders. For example, in this area, we have determined that 'increased autonomy', 'social inclusion' and 'intrinsic motivation' are also important factors."
To the publication in the journal „Psychology of Sport & Exercise“
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Contact:
Prof. Dr. Yolanda Demetriou
Associate Professorship of Educational Science in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24686
e-mail: yolanda.demetriou(at)tum.de
Anne Kelso
Associate Professorship of Educational Science in Sport and Health
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 München
phone: 089 289 24782
e-mail: anne.kelso(at)tum.de
Text: Romy Schwaiger
Photos: „Psychology of Sport & Exercise“/Associate Professorship of Educational Science in Sport and Health