Moving the Needle on Children’s Physical Activity – How to Best Promote More Movement?

Globally, physical inactivity is on the rise in most countries, and according to the WHO, it is considered one of the leading major public health risks. As children’s physical activity behaviors are conveyed into adulthood, many interventions focus on establishing healthy physical activity habits in children to prevent the potential negative health outcomes associated with low physical activity over the life course. The school environment provides an opportunity to reach the majority of children, however, physical activity promotion in schools can often be a challenge. Barriers to the success of physical activity interventions include the physical, social and economic environment, competencies, and workload of teachers, as well as the perception that physical activity may interfere with the primary task of schools, which is education. Moreover, the evaluation of physical activity interventions for children is challenging, raising a discussion on how to best evaluate these interventions.

The goal of this Research Topic is to provide and promote practical physical activity approaches that support children via the school environment, as well as the neighborhood and community environment. Articles in this collection should provide information on program and intervention effectiveness, key aspects of evaluation, as well as facilitators, and barriers to physical activity promotion amongst children. Submissions that include interventions that do not take place in schools are also acceptable if the school is a key component of reaching school-aged children to enhance physical activity. For example, this could include interventions addressing the physical activity of families (i.e. utilizing schools to reach the families).

The collection will consider including evidence from epidemiological, intervention, and policy manuscripts. We invite authors to submit original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and mini-reviews. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• How to prepare schools before implementing an intervention to promote physical activity to increase the chance of an intervention's success;

• How to successfully implement interventions to promote physical activity amongst children without "voltage drop", i.e. without losing effectiveness;

• How to recruit and engage children via the school environment, including vulnerable and hard-to-reach children;

• How to evaluate school-based interventions (i.e. use of standard RCT measures or using a "realistic evaluation", which parameters best represent a successful intervention: e.g. moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, attitudes towards physical activity, enjoyment, physical fitness, prevention of sedentary behavior);

• How effective/proven interventions for school-aged children in other communities, regions, and countries can be adopted.