Are school-based interventions promoting 24-hour movement guidelines among children? A scoping review

Abstract

Objective: 24-hour movement behaviours can effect sustainable long-term benefits in children, but their implementation and effectiveness have not previously been reviewed in the school setting. Thus, the aim of this scoping review was to provide an overview of school-based interventions targeting physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB), and sleep in 5–12-year-old children. Design: Scoping review. Methods: A structured bibliographic search of five databases was conducted to retrieve peer-reviewed intervention studies published in English language, between January 2010 and December 2020. Results: Among the 37 studies included with a total sample size of 27,145 primary school-aged children, only one study assessed sleep, PA and SB. The average duration of the intervention studies was between 7 and 10 months. Conclusion: The main gap identified was that current school-based interventions do not include complete 24-hour movement behaviours among children as there is a lack of intervention studies addressing sleep behaviour. In addition, this first international review of 24-hour movement behaviours in a school setting found that the number of intervention studies that incuded follow-up measures is limited, so it is difficult to interpret their sustainability.