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Classroom Movement Breaks and Physically Active Learning Are Feasible, Reduce Sedentary Behaviour and Fatigue, and May Increase Focus in University Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

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posted on 2022-10-19, 01:57 authored by Julia LynchJulia Lynch, G O’Donoghue, Casey PeirisCasey Peiris
Background: University students are mostly sedentary in tertiary education settings which may be detrimental to their health and learning. This review aimed to examine the feasibility and efficacy of classroom movement breaks (CMB) and physically active learning (PAL) on physical and cognitive outcomes in university students in the tertiary setting. Methods: Five electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsychINFO, and PubMed) were searched for articles published up until November 2021. Manual searching of reference lists and citation tracking were also completed. Two reviewers independently applied inclusion and exclusion criteria and completed quality assessment. Articles were included if they evaluated CMB or PAL interventions delivered to university students in a tertiary setting. Results: Of the 1691 articles identified, 14 studies with 5997 participants met the inclusion criteria. Average study quality scores were poor for both CMB and PAL studies. CMBs and PAL are feasible in the tertiary setting and increase physical activity, reduce sedentary behaviour, increase wellbeing, and reduce fatigue in university students. In addition, CMBs increased student focus and attention in class and PAL had no detrimental effect on academic performance. Conclusions: University educators should feel confident in introducing CMB and/or PAL interventions into their classes to improve student health and wellbeing.

History

Publication Date

2022-06-24

Journal

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Volume

19

Issue

13

Article Number

7775

Pagination

15p.

Publisher

Frontiers Media S.A.

ISSN

1660-4601

Rights Statement

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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