Peer-reviewed article
Intersectional Effects of the FIT FIRST 10 School-Based Intervention Across Sex and Parental Country of Birth on Physical and Psychosocial Health in Danish Primary Schools.
Eckert C, Krustrup P, Koch S, Jóhannsdóttir GJ, Prisak C et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how a school-based multisport intervention called FIT FIRST 10 affected Danish children aged 7–11 years, comparing effects across sex and migration background. The intervention did not improve cardiorespiratory fitness for any group, but showed some mixed benefits: boys with two Danish-origin parents had better body composition and heart rate outcomes, while girls with at least one non-Danish-origin parent showed improved psychological well-being. The findings suggest the program may help psychological health for some children but needs redesign to achieve more equitable physical health benefits across all groups.
Key points
- The intervention did not improve cardiorespiratory fitness in any subgroup
- Boys with two Danish-origin parents showed reductions in fat mass, fat mass index, body mass index, and resting heart rate
- Girls with one or zero Danish-origin parents showed improved psychological well-being
- Between-group contrasts favoured boys with two Danish-origin parents for cardiometabolic outcomes and girls with migration background for psychological well-being
- Small declines were observed in self-reported flexibility and physical condition in some subgroups
Limitations
This is a subgroup analysis with incomplete data (798 of 1175 children had complete information for the primary outcome), which reduces statistical power and generalisability. The study cannot determine why effects differed across groups or identify optimal implementation strategies to achieve equitable benefits.
Abstract
Background Children with a migration background often show poorer health profiles than majority peers. Schools provide an important setting for equitable physical activity promotion. FIT FIRST 10 (FF10) delivers high-intensity, inclusive multisport activities in Danish primary schools. Objectives To examine whether FF10 effects on physical and psychosocial outcomes differed across intersections of sex and parental country of birth (0 or 1 Danish-origin parent [0-1DOP] vs 2 Danish-origin parents [2DOP]), hypothesizing greater benefits among girls with 0-1DOP. Methods This subgroup analysis included 1175 children aged 7-11 years from 27 schools. 1050 had information on sex and parental country of birth (control: n = 413, FF10: n = 637). The analytical sample for the primary outcome (cardiorespiratory fitness) comprised 798 children with complete data for all variables included in the adjusted model. Results FF10 did not improve the primary outcome in any subgroup (all P ≥ .310), and no between-subgroup differences were observed. Within-subgroup effects showed reductions in fat mass, fat mass index, body mass index, and resting heart rate among boys with 2DOP (all P ≤ .026) and improved psychological well-being among girls with 0-1DOP (P = .024). Between-subgroup contrasts favored boys with 2DOP over boys with 0-1DOP for cardiometabolic outcomes and girls with 0-1DOP over girls with 2DOP for psychological well-being. Small within-subgroup declines were observed in self-reported flexibility (girls with 2DOP) and physical condition (boys with 0-1DOP). Conclusion Inclusive multisport programs in Danish primary schools may enhance psychological well-being among girls with 0-1DOP, but uneven physiological effects highlight the need to optimize implementation to achieve equitable benefits.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- FIT FIRST 10: high-intensity, inclusive multisport activities delivered in primary schools
- Population
- 1050 Danish primary school children aged 7–11 years (controls n=413, intervention n=637), stratified by sex and parental country of birth
Key finding
FF10 did not improve cardiorespiratory fitness (primary outcome) in any subgroup (P ≥ .310)