SEARCHSYSTEMATIC_REVIEWpediatrics, public health

systematic_review·pediatrics, public health, epidemiology, systematic review·PMC10317243

School-based physical activity interventions among children and adolescents in the Middle East and Arabic speaking countries: A systematic review

PLOS ONE · 7 authors, 3 centres

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TL;DR

This systematic review evaluated 17 school-based physical activity intervention studies for children and adolescents in the Middle East and Arabic-speaking countries.

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The central result was that eleven studies reported statistically significant improvements in physical activity, with self-reported increases between 58% and 72%. Studies with follow-up greater than three months showed sustained activity levels. The review identified that most interventions were multi-component (e.g., combining lifestyle, diet, education), few focused solely on physical activity, and evaluations came from only 30% of countries in the region.

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systematic_review

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pediatrics

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AI pipeline

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100% · A

ORIGINAL PAPER

PMC10317243

School-based physical activity interventions among children and adolescents in the Middle East and Arabic speaking countries: A systematic review

PLOS ONE

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ABSTRACT

Abstract Background It is widely recognised that noncommunicable diseases are on the rise worldwide, partly due to insufficient levels of physical activity (PA). It is a particularly concerning health issue among children and adolescents in Arabic countries where cultural and environmental factors may limit their opportunity for engaging in physical activities. Aim This review sought to assess the effectiveness of school-based PA interventions for increasing PA among schoolchildren aged six to 18 years in Middle Eastern and Arabic-speaking countries. Methods A systematic literature search was developed to identify studies reporting the evaluation of school-based PA interventions in Arabic-speaking countries. Four different databases were searched from January 2000 to January 2023: PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus and CINAHL. Article titles and abstracts were screened for relevance. Full article scrutiny of retrieved shortlisted articles was undertaken. After citation searches and reference checking of included papers, full data extraction, quality assessment and narrative synthesis was undertaken for all articles that met the inclusion criteria. This review adhered to PRISMA guidelines for conducting systematic reviews. Results Seventeen articles met the inclusion criteria. Eleven articles reported statistically significant improvements in the levels of PA among their participants. Based largely on self-reported outcomes, increases in PA between 58% and 72% were reported. The studies with a follow-up period greater than three months reported sustained PA levels. There are a limited range of types of programmes evaluated and evaluations were only identified from 30% of the countries in the region. Relatively few studies focused solely on PA interventions and most of the interventions were multi-component (lifestyle, diet, education). Conclusions This review adds to the existing body of research about the efficacy of school-based interventions to increase physical activity levels. To date, few evaluations assess PA specific interventions and most of the interventions were multi-component including education components on lifestyle and diet. Long-term school-based interventions combined with rigorous theoretical and methodological frameworks are necessary to develop, implement and evaluate PA interventions for children and adolescents in Arabic-speaking countries. Also, future work in this area must also consider the complex systems and agents by which physical activity is influenced.

CITATION EXPORT

Abdullah Alalawi, Lindsay Blank, Elizabeth Goyder et al.. School-based physical activity interventions among children and adolescents in the Middle East and Arabic speaking countries: A systematic review. PLOS ONE. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288135

AUTHORS

7 · 3 CENTRES

Abdullah Alalawi, Lindsay Blank, Elizabeth Goyder, Bojan Masanovic, Bojan Masanovic, Bojan Masanovic, Bojan Masanovic

1Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
2School of Health and Related Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
3University of Montenegro, MONTENEGRO