Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant led extracurricular physical activity intervention for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30
Background: Extracurricular programmes could provide a mechanism to increase the physical activity (PA) of primary-school-aged children. The aim of this feasibility study was to examine whether the Action 3:30 intervention, which is delivered by teaching assistants, holds promise as a means of i...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Biomed Central
2014
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44913/ |
| _version_ | 1848797026656976896 |
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| author | Jago, Russell Sebire, Simon Davies, Ben Wood, Lesley Edwards, Mark J. Banfield, Kathryn Fox, Kenneth Thompson, Janice Powell, Jane E. Montgomery, Alan A. |
| author_facet | Jago, Russell Sebire, Simon Davies, Ben Wood, Lesley Edwards, Mark J. Banfield, Kathryn Fox, Kenneth Thompson, Janice Powell, Jane E. Montgomery, Alan A. |
| author_sort | Jago, Russell |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background:
Extracurricular programmes could provide a mechanism to increase the physical activity (PA) of primary-school-aged children. The aim of this feasibility study was to examine whether the Action 3:30 intervention, which is delivered by teaching assistants, holds promise as a means of increasing the PA of Year 5 and 6 children.
Methods:
A cluster randomised feasibility trial was conducted in 20 primary schools. Ten schools received the Action 3:30 intervention and 10 schools were allocated to the control arm. The intervention was 40 one-hour sessions, delivered twice a week by teaching assistants. The proportion of participants recruited per school was calculated. Session delivery and session attendance was calculated for intervention schools. Weekday and after-school (3.30 to 8.30 pm) moderate to vigorous intensity physical (MVPA) was assessed by accelerometer at baseline (T0), during the last few weeks of the intervention (T1) and four months after the intervention had ended (T2). The costs of delivering the intervention were estimated.
Results:
Five intervention schools ran all 40 of the intended sessions. Of the remaining five, three ran 39, one ran 38 and one ran 29 sessions. Mean attendance was 53%. The adjusted difference in weekday MVPA at T1 was 4.3 minutes (95% CI −2.6 to 11.3). Sex-stratified analyses indicated that boys obtained 8.6 more minutes of weekday MVPA than the control group (95% CI 2.8 to 14.5) at T1 with no effect for girls (0.15 minutes, 95% CI −9.7 to 10.0). There was no evidence that participation in the programme increased MVPA once the club sessions ceased (T2). The indicative average cost of this intervention was £2,425 per school or £81 per participating child during its first year and £1,461 per school or £49 per participating child thereafter.
Conclusions:
The effect of the Action 3:30 intervention was comparable to previous physical activity interventions but further analysis indicated that there was a marked sex difference with a positive impact on boys and no evidence of an effect on girls. The Action 3:30 intervention holds considerable promise but more work is needed to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention, particularly for girls. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:57:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-44913 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:57:20Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Biomed Central |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-449132020-05-04T16:54:18Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44913/ Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant led extracurricular physical activity intervention for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30 Jago, Russell Sebire, Simon Davies, Ben Wood, Lesley Edwards, Mark J. Banfield, Kathryn Fox, Kenneth Thompson, Janice Powell, Jane E. Montgomery, Alan A. Background: Extracurricular programmes could provide a mechanism to increase the physical activity (PA) of primary-school-aged children. The aim of this feasibility study was to examine whether the Action 3:30 intervention, which is delivered by teaching assistants, holds promise as a means of increasing the PA of Year 5 and 6 children. Methods: A cluster randomised feasibility trial was conducted in 20 primary schools. Ten schools received the Action 3:30 intervention and 10 schools were allocated to the control arm. The intervention was 40 one-hour sessions, delivered twice a week by teaching assistants. The proportion of participants recruited per school was calculated. Session delivery and session attendance was calculated for intervention schools. Weekday and after-school (3.30 to 8.30 pm) moderate to vigorous intensity physical (MVPA) was assessed by accelerometer at baseline (T0), during the last few weeks of the intervention (T1) and four months after the intervention had ended (T2). The costs of delivering the intervention were estimated. Results: Five intervention schools ran all 40 of the intended sessions. Of the remaining five, three ran 39, one ran 38 and one ran 29 sessions. Mean attendance was 53%. The adjusted difference in weekday MVPA at T1 was 4.3 minutes (95% CI −2.6 to 11.3). Sex-stratified analyses indicated that boys obtained 8.6 more minutes of weekday MVPA than the control group (95% CI 2.8 to 14.5) at T1 with no effect for girls (0.15 minutes, 95% CI −9.7 to 10.0). There was no evidence that participation in the programme increased MVPA once the club sessions ceased (T2). The indicative average cost of this intervention was £2,425 per school or £81 per participating child during its first year and £1,461 per school or £49 per participating child thereafter. Conclusions: The effect of the Action 3:30 intervention was comparable to previous physical activity interventions but further analysis indicated that there was a marked sex difference with a positive impact on boys and no evidence of an effect on girls. The Action 3:30 intervention holds considerable promise but more work is needed to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention, particularly for girls. Biomed Central 2014-09-11 Article PeerReviewed Jago, Russell, Sebire, Simon, Davies, Ben, Wood, Lesley, Edwards, Mark J., Banfield, Kathryn, Fox, Kenneth, Thompson, Janice, Powell, Jane E. and Montgomery, Alan A. (2014) Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant led extracurricular physical activity intervention for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 11 . 114/1-114/14. ISSN 1479-5868 Teaching assistant Feasibility trial Intervention Children Physical activity https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-014-0114-z doi:10.1186/s12966-014-0114-z doi:10.1186/s12966-014-0114-z |
| spellingShingle | Teaching assistant Feasibility trial Intervention Children Physical activity Jago, Russell Sebire, Simon Davies, Ben Wood, Lesley Edwards, Mark J. Banfield, Kathryn Fox, Kenneth Thompson, Janice Powell, Jane E. Montgomery, Alan A. Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant led extracurricular physical activity intervention for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30 |
| title | Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant
led extracurricular physical activity intervention
for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30 |
| title_full | Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant
led extracurricular physical activity intervention
for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30 |
| title_fullStr | Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant
led extracurricular physical activity intervention
for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30 |
| title_full_unstemmed | Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant
led extracurricular physical activity intervention
for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30 |
| title_short | Randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant
led extracurricular physical activity intervention
for 9 to 11 year olds: Action 3:30 |
| title_sort | randomised feasibility trial of a teaching assistant
led extracurricular physical activity intervention
for 9 to 11 year olds: action 3:30 |
| topic | Teaching assistant Feasibility trial Intervention Children Physical activity |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44913/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44913/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44913/ |