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Health Education Research Advance Access originally published online on January 23, 2008
Health Education Research 2008 23(3):576-581; doi:10.1093/her/cym093
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Promoting health-enhancing physical activity in the primary school: a pilot evaluation of the BASH health-related exercise initiative

S. J. Fairclough1,2,*, G. Stratton1,3 and Z. H. Butcher1,2

1 REACH Group, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 2ET, UK
2 Centre for Physical and Outdoor Education, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L17 6BD, UK
3 Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 2ET, UK

* Correspondence to: S. J. Fairclough. E-mail: s.j.fairclough{at}ljmu.ac.uk

The ‘Be Active Stay Healthy’ (BASH) health-related exercise (HRE) programme was delivered to Year 5 students (age 9–10 years) in two primary schools situated in the same area of a northwest England town. BASH aims to improve students’ participation in and knowledge of HRE through structured physical activities. Fifty-five students completed pre- and post-programme HRE knowledge and understanding questionnaires. Moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels of 13 students were assessed using accelerometers during two contrasting lessons focusing on optimal activity levels (active) and cognitive learning (cognitive). Mean percentage of correct questionnaire answers improved from 60.8 to 83.8% (P = 0.0001, effect size (ES) = 1.44), and questionnaire performance was significantly better among students in one of the schools (P = 0.017, ES = 0.72). Boys engaged in MVPA for 11% more time than girls during the active lessons (P = 0.0006, ES = 1.21) but MVPA during cognitive lessons was similar. The BASH programme has potential to use structured physical activity as a medium to enhance students’ HRE knowledge, particularly in relation to the fundamental understanding of healthy and active lifestyles. HRE knowledge may differ between schools, even when they are similarly sized and located, with analogous student catchment areas. Recommendations for the future delivery and evaluation of the programme are made.

Received on April 11, 2006; accepted on October 30, 2007


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