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The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities: A Controlled Before and After Trial

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The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities: A Controlled Before and After Trial. / Barber, Sally E; Bingham, Daniel D; Dawkins, Nathan P et al.
medRxiv, 2025.

Research output: Working paper › Preprint

Harvard

Barber, SE, Bingham, DD, Dawkins, NP, Helme, Z, Hall, J, Seims, A, Santorelli, G, Wright, J, McEachan, RRC, Burkhardt, J & Daly-smith, A 2025 'The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities: A Controlled Before and After Trial' medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.20.25324322

APA

Barber, S. E., Bingham, D. D., Dawkins, N. P., Helme, Z., Hall, J., Seims, A., Santorelli, G., Wright, J., McEachan, R. RC., Burkhardt, J., & Daly-smith, A. (2025). The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities: A Controlled Before and After Trial. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.20.25324322

Vancouver

Barber SE, Bingham DD, Dawkins NP, Helme Z, Hall J, Seims A et al. The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities: A Controlled Before and After Trial. medRxiv. 2025 Mar 21. doi: 10.1101/2025.03.20.25324322

Author

Barber, Sally E ; Bingham, Daniel D ; Dawkins, Nathan P et al. / The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities : A Controlled Before and After Trial. medRxiv, 2025.

Bibtex

@techreport{daeb7870685b433fb8e0e969ef60af19,
title = "The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities: A Controlled Before and After Trial",
abstract = "Introduction: Whole system approaches to public health challenges such as low physical activity levels have the potential to create sustained behaviour change at a population level and tackle health inequalities. However, there is currently little evidence of the nature or effectiveness of adopting whole system approaches. This study evaluated whether a whole system physical activity intervention (JU:MP), was effective at improving physical activity in five- to eleven-year-olds. Methods: A before and after controlled study with two-arms (JU:MP intervention and control), was conducted in Bradford, UK with data collected at baseline and 24-months follow-up. Habitual physical activity was measured via accelerometry. The primary outcome was difference in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) between groups at 24-months. Secondary outcomes included: sedentary time (ST), counts per minute (CPM), BMI z-score, waist circumference, social, emotional and behavioural health, and quality-of-life. An exploratory analysis compared intervention effects between sub-groups. Results: 1,453 children were recruited. 330 children with valid wear-time at baseline and 24-months (JU:MP group n=175, control group n =155) were included in the final analysis of physical activity outcomes. The JU:MP group improved levels of MVPA (+4.99 minutes/day, (CI = 1.01, 8.96), standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.29), ST ( -8.69 minutes/day, CI = -16.76, -0.61), SMD = -0.20) and CPM (+32.72, CI = 5.93, 59.53, SMD = 0.28) compared to controls. There were minor differences between groups in all secondary outcomes, favouring the JU:MP group. Exploratory sub-group analysis revealed that MVPA improved for boys (+7.34 minutes/days, CI = 0.70, 13.99, SMD = 0.36) and South Asian heritage children (+7.20 minutes/day, CI = 1.67, 12.72, SMD = 0.52) in the JU:MP group compared to the control group. Conclusion: whole system approaches hold considerable promise for addressing children's levels of physical activity at scale, whilst also tackling inequalities.",
author = "Barber, {Sally E} and Bingham, {Daniel D} and Dawkins, {Nathan P} and Zoe Helme and Jennifer Hall and Amanda Seims and Gillian Santorelli and John Wright and McEachan, {Rosemary RC} and Jan Burkhardt and Andy Daly-smith",
year = "2025",
month = mar,
day = "21",
doi = "10.1101/2025.03.20.25324322",
language = "English",
publisher = "medRxiv",
type = "WorkingPaper",
institution = "medRxiv",

}

RIS

TY - UNPB

T1 - The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities

T2 - A Controlled Before and After Trial

AU - Barber, Sally E

AU - Bingham, Daniel D

AU - Dawkins, Nathan P

AU - Helme, Zoe

AU - Hall, Jennifer

AU - Seims, Amanda

AU - Santorelli, Gillian

AU - Wright, John

AU - McEachan, Rosemary RC

AU - Burkhardt, Jan

AU - Daly-smith, Andy

PY - 2025/3/21

Y1 - 2025/3/21

N2 - Introduction: Whole system approaches to public health challenges such as low physical activity levels have the potential to create sustained behaviour change at a population level and tackle health inequalities. However, there is currently little evidence of the nature or effectiveness of adopting whole system approaches. This study evaluated whether a whole system physical activity intervention (JU:MP), was effective at improving physical activity in five- to eleven-year-olds. Methods: A before and after controlled study with two-arms (JU:MP intervention and control), was conducted in Bradford, UK with data collected at baseline and 24-months follow-up. Habitual physical activity was measured via accelerometry. The primary outcome was difference in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) between groups at 24-months. Secondary outcomes included: sedentary time (ST), counts per minute (CPM), BMI z-score, waist circumference, social, emotional and behavioural health, and quality-of-life. An exploratory analysis compared intervention effects between sub-groups. Results: 1,453 children were recruited. 330 children with valid wear-time at baseline and 24-months (JU:MP group n=175, control group n =155) were included in the final analysis of physical activity outcomes. The JU:MP group improved levels of MVPA (+4.99 minutes/day, (CI = 1.01, 8.96), standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.29), ST ( -8.69 minutes/day, CI = -16.76, -0.61), SMD = -0.20) and CPM (+32.72, CI = 5.93, 59.53, SMD = 0.28) compared to controls. There were minor differences between groups in all secondary outcomes, favouring the JU:MP group. Exploratory sub-group analysis revealed that MVPA improved for boys (+7.34 minutes/days, CI = 0.70, 13.99, SMD = 0.36) and South Asian heritage children (+7.20 minutes/day, CI = 1.67, 12.72, SMD = 0.52) in the JU:MP group compared to the control group. Conclusion: whole system approaches hold considerable promise for addressing children's levels of physical activity at scale, whilst also tackling inequalities.

AB - Introduction: Whole system approaches to public health challenges such as low physical activity levels have the potential to create sustained behaviour change at a population level and tackle health inequalities. However, there is currently little evidence of the nature or effectiveness of adopting whole system approaches. This study evaluated whether a whole system physical activity intervention (JU:MP), was effective at improving physical activity in five- to eleven-year-olds. Methods: A before and after controlled study with two-arms (JU:MP intervention and control), was conducted in Bradford, UK with data collected at baseline and 24-months follow-up. Habitual physical activity was measured via accelerometry. The primary outcome was difference in moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) between groups at 24-months. Secondary outcomes included: sedentary time (ST), counts per minute (CPM), BMI z-score, waist circumference, social, emotional and behavioural health, and quality-of-life. An exploratory analysis compared intervention effects between sub-groups. Results: 1,453 children were recruited. 330 children with valid wear-time at baseline and 24-months (JU:MP group n=175, control group n =155) were included in the final analysis of physical activity outcomes. The JU:MP group improved levels of MVPA (+4.99 minutes/day, (CI = 1.01, 8.96), standardised mean difference (SMD) = 0.29), ST ( -8.69 minutes/day, CI = -16.76, -0.61), SMD = -0.20) and CPM (+32.72, CI = 5.93, 59.53, SMD = 0.28) compared to controls. There were minor differences between groups in all secondary outcomes, favouring the JU:MP group. Exploratory sub-group analysis revealed that MVPA improved for boys (+7.34 minutes/days, CI = 0.70, 13.99, SMD = 0.36) and South Asian heritage children (+7.20 minutes/day, CI = 1.67, 12.72, SMD = 0.52) in the JU:MP group compared to the control group. Conclusion: whole system approaches hold considerable promise for addressing children's levels of physical activity at scale, whilst also tackling inequalities.

U2 - 10.1101/2025.03.20.25324322

DO - 10.1101/2025.03.20.25324322

M3 - Preprint

BT - The Effectiveness of a Whole System Approach to Improve Physical Activity of Children Aged 5 to 11 Years Living in Multi-ethnic and Socio-economically Deprived Communities

PB - medRxiv

ER -