Attention Capacity and Before-school Physical Activity Intervention Program (Active-Star)

A Before-school Physical Activity Intervention Program to Improve Attention in Vulnerable Children: The Active-Start Trial

Despite the evidence and the potential of physical activity related to cognition and academic performance in children, the effects of a before-school physical activity program on these parameters remains unknown.

Despite public health concerns and the extensively documented health benefits of physical activity, a large proportion of Chilean children do not meet the physical activity recommendations (Aguilar-Farias et al., 2018). Since most children spend a majority of their waking hours at school, this environment is appropriate for the implementation of preventive interventions, particularly those that include activities promoting physical activity (Naylor & McKay, 2009). With the absence of opportunities for physical activity during the school day, before-school programs have become a popular option to help children increasing their physical activity levels (Stylianou, van der Mars, et al., 2016). Although several recent studies support a positive effect of before school-based physical activity on health (Westcott, Puhala, Colligan, Loud, & Cobbett, 2015), less literature has evaluate the cognitive outcomes (Stylianou, Kulinna, et al., 2016) such as attention capacity.

Supervised exercise training. The intervention is a physical activity intervention that consist of 5 times per week before starting the first school-class (8:00-8:30 a.m.), 5 times per week. Each session was previously planned and described in a manual dedicated to the study. These sessions were designed by the research team and delivered by a graduate in Sport The intervention program included sports games adapted to the age of the participants, playground games, dance and other recreational activities. The intensity of the main part of the sessions was moderate-to-vigorous according to a previous study and this intensity was confirmed by accelerometry. Also, different activities favoring social interactions were designed to facilitate the interactions between the participants at the end of the sessions (cold-down).

Weight and height were used to calculate BMI (weight in kilograms divided by the square of height in meters).

Waist circumference was measured in the horizontal plane at the superior border of the right iliac crest.

The handgrip test, each child performed the test twice with each hand, and the maximum value of each hand was taken and averaged

The longest attempt from 3 was recorded (centimeters) and multiplied by the body weight to obtain an absolute measurement

The speed-agility was assessed twice using the 4 x 10-m shuttle-run test and the fastest completion time (seconds) was recorded

Cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed through the 20-m shuttle-run test and the total number of completed laps was registered

Blood pressure was recorded by a automatic sphygmomanometer with the arm supported at heart level after sitting quietly for 10 min

This information was self-reported by the children withguided assistance by a trained psychologis with Mediterranean diet (Kidmed) tool

Inclusion Criteria: All students in fourth grade (aged 8-10 years) Children's parents/caregivers will give their written consent to the children's participation. Collaboration in the family to respond to questionnaires Exclusion Criteria: Children with some physical pathology or medical contraindication to perform physical exercise Diagnosed with learning disabilities or mental disorders