Peer-reviewed article
Effects of before-school physical activity programs on preschool and school children: a systematic review.
Garin-Atorrasagasti M, Rico-González M, Becerra-Patiño BA, López-Gil JF, Olivares-Arancibia J ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This systematic review examined the effects of physical activity programs conducted before school on children up to 12 years old. The review of 16 studies involving 2,361 children found that before-school physical activity can improve physical fitness and academic performance. However, benefits for attention, concentration, body weight, quality of life, and bullying depend on how much physical improvement children actually achieve. The authors recommend incorporating before-school physical activity interventions as part of children's development and growth strategies.
Key points
- Before-school PA interventions can improve physical fitness in children
- Before-school PA interventions can improve academic performance
- Effects on attention, concentration, BMI, quality of life, and bullying outcomes are variable and depend on level of physical improvement achieved
- 16 studies met inclusion criteria out of 526 identified, encompassing 2,361 children up to age 12
- Before-school PA breaks are presented as a suitable alternative given that many preschool and school children do not meet PA guidelines
Limitations
The review does not specify which countries the included studies were conducted in, limiting understanding of geographic applicability. The abstract does not provide details on study quality assessment results or explain the specific mechanisms by which physical improvement leads to outcomes in other domains.
Abstract
Introduction Given that several preschools and schoolchildren do not meet physical activity (PA) guidelines, the interest in including short activity breaks during school hours has become a popular trend among professionals in educational settings. Among them, before-school PA breaks have been highlighted as a suitable alternative. This systematic review aims to analyze the effects of before-school PA breaks on preschool-aged and school-aged children. Material and methods Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, five databases were searched for articles published before September 11, 2025. The PICOS framework (population; intervention; control; outcomes and study design) targeted children up to 12 years of age who had participated in before-school PA programs. Study quality was evaluated using different scales depending on the type of study. Results Of the 526 studies identified, 16 met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 2,361 children. PA intervention before class can improve physical fitness and academic performance. However, some variables, such as attention and concentration; physical characteristics, such as BMI; and social aspects, such as quality of life and physical and verbal school bullying, depend on how much physical improvement children achieve. Discussion This review suggests incorporating before-school-based interventions that consider PA performance can constitute an important strategy for children's development and growth. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD420251240838.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Before-school physical activity programs and breaks for children up to 12 years old
- Population
- Preschool-aged and school-aged children up to 12 years old (2,361 children across 16 studies)
Key finding
Before-school PA intervention can improve physical fitness