Research library

Welcome to the insight hub for we can move,

This is our storage space for research, reports, opinion and news for physical activity and the wider system which we've come across.

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children and young people (57)

Promotion of physical activity for adolescents with cystic fibrosis: a qualitative study of UK multi disciplinary cystic fibrosis teams

Despite its importance, PA support and promotion is not always prioritised. MDTs lack confidence in their ability to promote PA. Standardised advice and training relating to optimal intensities, durations and types of PA would provide a baseline from which to individualise advice to each patient and could increase confidence in PA promotion among MDTs. Source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S003194061930032X (March 2020)

£3.5m government funding to encourage children to walk to school

The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced £3.5m of funding to encourage more children to walk to school in a bid to improve air pollution and reduce congestion during peak hours. £2.5m of the funding will be available for the ‘Walk To’ fund, which aims to support a further 1,200 primary and secondary schools, colleges and workplaces to choose walking rather than driving on their daily commute.  Source: https://airqualitynews.com/2020/02/10/3-5m-government-funding-to-encourage-children-to

Running a mile a day can make children healthier – here’s how schools can make it more fun

In our new research that we conducted with our primary school health network, HAPPEN, we found that The Daily Mile can make a massive difference to children’s lives. It makes children realise they are good at running, that running is something they can do with friends and most importantly that they can have fun being active. Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/running-mile-day-children-healthier-140734245.html (February 2020)

The Daily Mile makes primary school children more active, less sedentary and improves their fitness and body composition: a quasi-experimental pilot study

The findings show that in primary school children, the Daily Mile intervention is effective at increasing levels of MVPA, reducing sedentary time, increasing physical fitness and improving body composition. Source: https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-018-1049-z (May 2018)

Access to public transport and childhood obesity: A systematic review

The lack of access to public transport is generally considered to be a risk factor for childhood obesity by discouraging active transport and thus physical activity. A total of 25 cross-sectional and two longitudinal studies conducted in 10 countries were identified. These observations suggest that an increased level of access to public transport may have a health-promoting effect and hence prevent the development of childhood obesity. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32003139 (J

Association between daily TV time and physical fitness in 6- to 14-year-old Austrian youth.

High TV time is associated with poor physical fitness in youth. Accordingly, intervention strategies need to target a meaningful utilization of TV and other screen-based activities in addition to the promotion of PA in order to ensure sufficient physical fitness in youth. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31993349 (December 2019)

Physical Activity, Sleep, Body Mass Index, and Associated Risk of Behavioral and Emotional Problems in Childhood.

Although physical activity and sleep have physical health benefits, they may not be protective against future emotional and behavioral problems in childhood in the general population. BMI in the obese or overweight range was significantly associated with current emotional and behavioral problems at the age of 11 years. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32004246 (January 2020)

Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of The Daily Mile on childhood weight outcomes and wellbeing: a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Overall the Daily Mile had a small but non-significant effect on BMIz, however, it had a greater effect in girls suggesting that it might be considered as a cost-effective component of a system-wide approach to childhood obesity prevention. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31988481 (January 2020)

To what extent do unhealthy behaviour indicators explain the neighbourhood deprivation gradient in overweight among 11-year-old English children?

Active school commuting alone is unlikely to be enough to prevent and reduce the prevalence of overweight/obesity in the most deprived English neighbourhoods. Childhood overweight/obesity-related interventions should focus on promoting participation in a range of health behaviours. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31993476 (February 2020)

A collaborative approach to developing sustainable behaviour change interventions for childhood obesity prevention: Development of the Choosing Healthy Eating for Infant Health (CHErIsH) intervention

This study describes an innovative use of the Behaviour Change Wheel to integrate multiple sources of evidence collected from practice, policy, research, and parent stakeholders to concurrently develop an evidence-based intervention to improve parental infant feeding behaviours and an implementation strategy to facilitate sustainable delivery by health care professionals in routine primary care. Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31999887 (January 2020)

Researchers at Dublin City University find that 25% of primary school age children in Ireland cannot run properly

Researchers at Dublin City University have carried out an all Ireland study of over two thousand primary school children on the island of Ireland, and have found that one in four cannot run properly; one in two cannot kick a ball properly; and less than one in every five can throw a ball. Source: https://www.dcu.ie/news/news/2020/Jan/Researchers-DCU-find-25-of-primary-school-age-children-cannot-run-properly.shtml (January 2020)

Active Cumbria Healthy Movers Evaluation Report 2019

During 2016/17 Active Cumbria led on a pilot roll out of Healthy Movers (formerly Smart Start) in Cumbria. The intention was to implement the programme with families of children in chosen settings, using physical literacy as a means of increasing physical activity, and improving young children's readiness to learn. The pilot was externally evaluated by the University of Northumbria and shown to increase young children's participation in daily physical activity, leading to improved concentration

Adolescent obesity and related behaviours: trends and inequalities in the WHO European Region, 2002–2014

Physical activity is a key determinant of energy expenditure, as it has a fundamental positive influence on energy balance and weight control. Regular physical activity in children and adolescents is important for obesity prevention and supporting obese adolescents to manage their weight. Source: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/339211/WHO_ObesityReport_2017_v3.pdf?ua=1 (2017)

Does increasing girls' and women's participation in physical activity improve their wellbeing?

On International Women’s Day in March,  we published our evaluation of the Sporting Equality Fund, a £325,000 set of grants from the Scottish government to get more girls and women participating in physical activity. Fourteen organisations were awarded up to £25,000 for year-long projects – all were asked to look at how participation increased wellbeing. Across the fund as a whole, we saw average life satisfaction go up from 6.9 to 8.0 out of 10, with similar rises across the other three ONS wel