Centre of Research in Childhood Health, Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, DK-5230, Odense M, Denmark.
BMC Pediatr. 2012 Aug 20;12:128. doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-12-128.
An increasingly passive life-style in the Western World has led to a rise in life-style related disorders. This is a major concern for all segments of society. The county council of the municipality of Svendborg in Denmark, created six Sport Schools with increased levels of suitable physical activities, which made it possible to study the health outcomes in these children whilst comparing them to children who attended the 'normal' schools of the region using the design of a "natural experiment".
Children from the age of 6 till the age of 10, who accepted to be included in the monitoring process, were surveyed at baseline with questionnaires, physical examinations and physical and biological testing, including DXA scans. The physical examination and testing was repeated during the early stage of the study. Every week over the whole study period, the children will be followed with an automated mobile phone text message (SMS-Track) asking questions on their leisure time sports activities and the presence of any musculoskeletal problems. Children who report any such problems are monitored individually by health care personnel. Data are collected on demography, health habits and attitudes, physical characteristics, physical activity using accelerometers, motor performance, fitness, bone health, life-style disorders, injuries and musculoskeletal problems. Data collection will continue at least once a year until the children reach grade 9.
This project is embedded in a local community, which set up the intervention (The Sport Schools) and thereafter invited researchers to provide documentation and evaluation. Sport schools are well matched with the 'normal' schools, making comparisons between these suitable. However, subgroups that would be specifically targeted in lifestyle intervention studies (such as the definitely obese) could be relatively small. Therefore, results specific to minority groups may be diluted. Nonetheless, the many rigorously collected data will make it possible to study, for example, the general effect that different levels of physical activity may have on various health conditions and on proxy measures of life-style conditions. Specifically, it will help answer the question on whether increased physical activity in school has a positive effect on health in children.
在西方世界，日益被动的生活方式导致了与生活方式相关的疾病的增加。这是社会各界的主要关注点。丹麦斯文堡市议会创建了六所体育学校，增加了适宜的体育活动水平，这使得研究这些儿童的健康结果成为可能，并通过“自然实验”的设计将其与该地区“正常”学校的儿童进行比较。
从 6 岁到 10 岁的儿童，在基线调查中接受问卷调查、体检和身体及生物测试，包括 DXA 扫描。在研究的早期阶段重复了体检和测试。在整个研究期间，每周通过自动手机短信（SMS-Track）向儿童询问他们的休闲体育活动和任何肌肉骨骼问题的存在情况。报告任何此类问题的儿童将由医疗保健人员进行单独监测。收集数据包括人口统计学、健康习惯和态度、身体特征、使用加速度计的身体活动、运动表现、体能、骨骼健康、生活方式障碍、受伤和肌肉骨骼问题。数据收集将至少每年进行一次，直到儿童进入 9 年级。
该项目嵌入在一个当地社区中，该社区设立了干预措施（体育学校），然后邀请研究人员提供文件和评估。体育学校与“正常”学校相匹配，因此适合进行比较。然而，专门针对生活方式干预研究的亚组（如绝对肥胖者）可能相对较小。因此，针对少数群体的结果可能会被稀释。尽管如此，许多严格收集的数据将使研究成为可能，例如，不同水平的身体活动对各种健康状况和生活方式状况的代理指标可能产生的一般影响。具体来说，它将有助于回答在学校增加身体活动是否对儿童健康有积极影响的问题。
