Effectiveness of the ACTI-BREAK program to improve academic and physical activity related outcomes in Victorian primary school children

A behavioural intervention targeting increasing academic and physical activity outcomes in children in Years 3 and 4 attending 3 x middle socio-economic position Government primary schools across Melbourne, Australia. The ACTI-BREAK program encourages teachers to implement 5-minute moderate-intensity active breaks 3 times daily in their classrooms for 6 weeks. Scheduling of active breaks will be determined by teachers delivering the program. The ACTI-BREAK activities were selected to be of moderate physical activity intensity, age appropriate and include a variety (n=30) of active break options with suggested modifications for easier or more challenging activities. ACTI-BREAK activities incorporate drama (e.g. jog on the spot as if a big scary bear is chasing you), games (e.g. musical chairs), following instructions (e.g. when the music stops, touch 10 chairs in a row), and technology/websites (e.g. GoNoodle and YouTube). An important element of the ACTI-BREAK program is that the activities do not require any set up and only use equipment already available in classrooms (e.g. music). Teacher training session At each intervention school, all teachers of Years 3 and 4 will participate in a one-off 45-minute face-to face training session approximately one week prior to implementing the ACTI-BREAK program. The session will be conducted on school grounds at a convenient time for teachers and will be delivered by the researcher who is a qualified and experienced primary school teacher. The training session is designed to inspire and equip the teachers with the necessary skills and knowledge to be able to implement the ACTI-BREAK program in their classrooms. This training session will include a rationale for adding active breaks to the classroom routine, current research evidence highlighting the potential positive effect of active breaks on academic-related outcomes, explanation of the ACTI-BREAK program and what they are required to do, and demonstrations of a range of the ACTI-BREAK activities. At the completion of the training session, teachers will be provided with intervention materials including the ACTI-BREAK program prompt cards, and classroom timers. Intervention fidelity Teachers will be required to complete logs of the ACTI-BREAKS they complete over the duration of the intervention. Children will also wear accelerometers mid-way through the intervention (week 3) and at the end of the intervention (week 6). Accelerometer data will be compared with teacher logs of ACTI-BREAKS completed during week 3, and week 6 of the intervention to monitor whether the ACTI-BREAKS are conducted at suitable physical activity intensity (moderate physical activity intensity).