| Limerick, Ireland | N = 28, M = 14, F = 14; Age = 8 - 9 years; 1 teacher, age = 33 years | Evaluates the effects of a behaviour change intervention, which encourages the integration of physical activity into the teaching of academic lessons, on physical activity levels of students. | Two active intervention lessons (one English and one Mathematics) lasting an average of 18 min (5.5% of the school day) | 5 days | Accelerometers, Toy Box (adapted from | The teacher and students were very satisfied with the programme. Therefore, changing teacher behavior towards using physically active teaching methods is a promising way of increasing children’s physical activity levels. |
| Netherlands | N = 388; Age = 8.1 ± 0.7 years; EG = 181; CG = 195; | Investigate effects of physically active academic lessons on body mass index (BMI) and physical fitness in primary school children | Physically active academic lessons for 22 weeks | 22 weeks | Test Eurofit | Positive effects on BMI in third-grade children, but had no effects on cardiovascular and muscular fitness. |
| Netherlands | N = 499, M = 226, F = 273; Age = 8.1 ± 0.7 years; EG = 249; CG = 250; | Investigate the effects of physically active academic lessons on cardiovascular fitness, muscular fitness and executive functions | Physically active academic lessons for 2 consecutive school years, 22 weeks per year, three times a week, with a duration of 20 - 30 min per lesson | 2 years | Test Eurofit Golden Stroop | Larger improvement in speed-coordination and a lower improvement in static strength for the intervention group compared with the control group. No significant change in executive functions. |
| Bern, Switzerland | N = 92; Age = 11.77 ± 0.41 years | Disentangle the separate and/or combined effects of physical exertion and cognitive engagement induced by physical activity breaks on primary school children’s attention | 4 experimental conditions: 1) combo group (physical activity with high cognitive demands), 2) cognition group (sedentary with high cognitive demands), 3) physical group (physical activity with low cognitive demands), and 4) control group (sedentary with low cognitive demands) | 3 weeks | D2-R test PANSAS-C short version, | Positive affect during the interventions mediated the effect between cognitive engagement and focused attention as well as between cognitive engagement and processing speed. Cognitive engagement was the crucial factor leading to increased focused attention and enhanced processing speed. |