Are interventions to promote physical activity in children a waste of time?

Physically active children are more likely to remain active into adulthood, and maintaining a physically active lifestyle throughout life has considerable health benefits.1 2 3 Current UK guidelines state that all children and adolescents should engage in physical activity of moderate to vigorous intensity for at least 60 minutes a day.4 However, recent objective data from the Health Survey for England confirmed that only 33% of boys and 21% of girls currently meet those guidelines,5 and further research has shown a dramatic drop off in activity levels from childhood to adolescence.6 Thus, developing effective interventions to promote physical activity in children is crucial.

In a linked research paper (doi:10.1136/bmj.e5888), Metcalf and colleagues report findings from a meta-analysis of studies that together examined 30 interventions aimed at promoting physical activity in children.7 The results indicate a small to negligible pooled effect on total time spent in physical activity, with disappointing improvements in the time spent in moderate to vigorous intensity activities (about four minutes a day). The current analysis differs from previous systematic reviews on this …