Abstract
Background:
School-based interventions aimed at improving physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) and sleep (i.e., 24-hour movement behaviours) are prevalent. However, the potential use of homework as an intervention method has been largely unexamined. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of school-based health interventions which implement homework to improve 24-hour movement behaviours in primary school-aged children, whilst examining the moderating effects of study characteristics on intervention effectiveness.
Methods:
We searched CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science on 4th March 2024 using the following eligibility criteria: (1) participants were aged 5-12 years old; (2) school-based interventions that implemented homework specifically designed to improve one or more 24-hour movement behaviours; (3) randomised- or non- randomised controlled trials, or mixed methods studies where quantitative components included experimental or quasi-experimental data that could be clearly extracted; (4) device based measured changes in individual or combined 24-hour movement behaviours, or their compositions, were reported. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers with study quality rated using the NIH quality assessment tool. Random-effects meta-analyses were processed to compute standardised mean difference (Hedges’ g), with subgroup analyses, and meta-regressions also conducted.
Results:
From 2,281 studies, 19 studies involving 13,160 participants were included for data extraction. Meta-analyses revealed significant favourable association for school-based interventions which implemented homework for sleep outcomes (g = 1.06, p < .0001) and SB (g = -0.20, p = 0.0034). No significant effects of the interventions compared to controls were found for PA. Meta-regressions revealed that longer intervention durations significantly improved PA (counts per minute; β=0.14, p = 0.0241), with no significant effects found for sleep or SB. Subgroup analyses showed significant effects of intervention on SB in RCT’s in both theory-based and non-theory-based studies, though differences between subgroups were 3 not statistically significant. Effects varied between pre- and post-implementations of 24-hour movement guidelines on SB, but these differences were also not statistically significant.
Conclusion:
These results highlight a significant gap in school-based interventions implementing homework targeting all 24-hour movement behaviours, emphasising the need for future interventions to focus on reducing SB and improving sleep for more beneficial outcomes.
Registration: PROSPERO CRD42024518271.
School-based interventions aimed at improving physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviour (SB) and sleep (i.e., 24-hour movement behaviours) are prevalent. However, the potential use of homework as an intervention method has been largely unexamined. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of school-based health interventions which implement homework to improve 24-hour movement behaviours in primary school-aged children, whilst examining the moderating effects of study characteristics on intervention effectiveness.
Methods:
We searched CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, The Cochrane Library and Web of Science on 4th March 2024 using the following eligibility criteria: (1) participants were aged 5-12 years old; (2) school-based interventions that implemented homework specifically designed to improve one or more 24-hour movement behaviours; (3) randomised- or non- randomised controlled trials, or mixed methods studies where quantitative components included experimental or quasi-experimental data that could be clearly extracted; (4) device based measured changes in individual or combined 24-hour movement behaviours, or their compositions, were reported. Data were extracted independently by two reviewers with study quality rated using the NIH quality assessment tool. Random-effects meta-analyses were processed to compute standardised mean difference (Hedges’ g), with subgroup analyses, and meta-regressions also conducted.
Results:
From 2,281 studies, 19 studies involving 13,160 participants were included for data extraction. Meta-analyses revealed significant favourable association for school-based interventions which implemented homework for sleep outcomes (g = 1.06, p < .0001) and SB (g = -0.20, p = 0.0034). No significant effects of the interventions compared to controls were found for PA. Meta-regressions revealed that longer intervention durations significantly improved PA (counts per minute; β=0.14, p = 0.0241), with no significant effects found for sleep or SB. Subgroup analyses showed significant effects of intervention on SB in RCT’s in both theory-based and non-theory-based studies, though differences between subgroups were 3 not statistically significant. Effects varied between pre- and post-implementations of 24-hour movement guidelines on SB, but these differences were also not statistically significant.
Conclusion:
These results highlight a significant gap in school-based interventions implementing homework targeting all 24-hour movement behaviours, emphasising the need for future interventions to focus on reducing SB and improving sleep for more beneficial outcomes.
Registration: PROSPERO CRD42024518271.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 94 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Sports Medicine - Open |
| Volume | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Aug 2025 |
Keywords
- school-based interventions
- homework
- 24-hour movement behaviours
- physical activity
- sedentary behaviour
- sleep
- meta-analysis
- randomised controlled trials
- primary school-aged children
- behavioural outcomes