Class Time Physical Activity Programs for Primary School Aged Children at Specialist Schools: A Systematic Mapping Review

Chloe Emonson, Jane McGillivray, Emily J. Kothe, Nicole Rinehart and Nicole Papadopoulos
Additional contact information
Chloe Emonson: Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia
Jane McGillivray: Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia
Emily J. Kothe: Data Science Unit, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia
Nicole Rinehart: Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia
Nicole Papadopoulos: Deakin Child Study Centre, School of Psychology, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong VIC 3220, Australia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 24, 1-30

Abstract: Children with disabilities tend to be less active than typically developing peers and may therefore miss important developmental benefits. Class time physical activity (PA) programs can provide additional PA to children and have shown to contribute to numerous benefits in mainstream classrooms. However, it is unclear whether class time PA opportunities are provided in specialist education settings. This review aimed to identify and map class time PA programs that have been implemented in specialist schools and classes. Nine electronic databases were searched. Grey literature searches were also conducted. Programs were included if they were implemented in a primary/elementary specialist school or class, involved a PA component, were conducted during class time and involved more than one child from the class participating. Included programs were mapped and narratively synthesised according to activity type. Of the 2068 records screened, 34 programs were included. Programs involving dance/drama activities (k = 11) were most common and programs involving stretching activities (k = 2) were least frequently implemented. Twenty-three programs had been evaluated, of which only two were randomised controlled trials. More class time PA opportunities are warranted in specialist education settings. Further research is required to build the evidence base for these programs.

Keywords: physical activity; special education; class; children; disability; mapping review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/5140/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/24/5140/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:24:p:5140-:d:298572

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().