Drøn på Skolegården (The Activating Schoolyard Study)
| ISRCTN | ISRCTN17944407 |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN17944407 |
| Protocol serial number | 2013-41-1900 |
| Sponsors | Danish Cancer Society, Realdania, The Danish foundation for Culture and Sport Facilities |
| Funders | Kræftens Bekæmpelse, Realdania, Lokale og anlægsfonden |
- Submission date
- 17/05/2018
- Registration date
- 18/05/2018
- Last edited
- 19/06/2023
- Recruitment status
- No longer recruiting
- Overall study status
- Completed
- Condition category
- Other
Plain English summary of protocol
Background and study aims
The aim of the Activating Schoolyards Study is to develop, implement, document and assess a comprehensive schoolyard intervention to promote physical activity during school recess for primary school children (grade 4-8). The intervention involves making organizational and structural changes in the schoolyard environment.
Who can participate?
Students grade 4-8 from 7 schools in Denmark
What does the study involve?
The schoolyard interventions are developed involving students in the process. It was up to the schools to decide how the students participate in the process. Therefore, the intervention components vary widely reflecting the local challenges and needs. At some of the schools the interventions take place in the existing schoolyard whereas other schools expand their outdoor area by including adjacent spaces (e.g., woodland area and parking ground). However, some features are present at several schools such as climbing walls, balance bars, theatre/dancing stages, skating areas, trampolines, hills, ball game facilities and outdoor eating areas. There are also similarities in the organisational changes, for example a policy obliging the children to stay outdoors for parts of their recess is implemented at several schools. The interventions take place during 2015 and the total budget for each of the schools ranged from 120,000 to 900,000 USD. Children representing the target group (grade 4-8) for the schoolyard intervention at each of the seven schools participate at two timepoints, April to June 2014 and in the same months in 2016 (after the intervention). The intervention is during the whole year of 2015. In April to June 2018 a late follow-up is conducted in grade 4 and 6. The effect of the interventions is assessed by students wearing an accelerometer and GPS to determine where they are in the schoolyard and how active they are.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The class with the most participants receives a prize (sports equipment). There are no risks of participating.
Where is the study run from?
University of Southern Denmark
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2013 to April 2019
Who is funding the study?
1. Danish Cancer Society
2. Realdania
3. Lokale og anlægsfonden
Who is the main contact?
Charlotte Skau Pawlowski
cspawlowski@health.sdu.dk
Contact information
Scientific
Campusvej 55
Odense M
5230
Denmark
 ORCID ID |
0000-0003-1407-613X |
|---|---|
| Phone | +45 (0)61665006 |
| cspawlowski@health.sdu.dk |
Study information
| Primary study design | Interventional |
|---|---|
| Study design | A quasi-experimental schoolyard intervention study using a mixed method approach including: 1) an exploratory study aimed at providing input for the developing process; 2) an evaluation of the effect of the interventions using a combination of accelerometer and GPS at baseline and follow-up to determine where and how active the students are in the schoolyard, before and after the intervention; 3) a post-intervention end-user evaluation aimed at exploring who uses the schoolyards and how the schoolyards are used. |
| Secondary study design | Non randomised study |
| Study type | Participant information sheet |
| Scientific title | Drøn på Skolegården (The Activating Schoolyard Study) |
| Study objectives | The trialists hypothesize that a high degree of user involvement, tailored inventive schoolyard interventions and organisational recess changes would lead to increased recess PA among students. |
| Ethics approval(s) | Data management and security with regards to this study was approved by the Danish Data Protection Agency (2013-41-1900). According to the Danish National Committee on Health Research Ethics, formal ethical approval was not required as the project was not a biomedical research project. |
| Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied | Physical activity |
| Intervention | The schoolyard interventions were developed using a participatory bottom-up approach involving students in the development process. It was up to the schools to decide how the students participated in the process. Therefore, the design and dimension of the intervention components varied widely reflecting the local challenges and needs. At some of the schools the interventions took place in the existing schoolyard whereas other schools expanded their outdoor area by including adjacent spaces (e.g., woodland area and parking ground). However, some features were presented at several schools such as climbing walls, balance bars, theatre/dancing stages, skating areas, trampolines, hills, ball game facilities and outdoor eating areas. There were also similarities in the organisational changes, e.g., a policy obliging the children to stay outdoors parts of their recess was implemented at several schools. The interventions took place during 2015 and the total budget for each of the schools ranged from 120,000 to 900,000 USD. Children representing the target group (grade 4-8) for the schoolyard intervention at each of the seven schools participated at two timepoints, April to June 2014 (baseline) and in the same months in 2016 (post-intervention). The intervention was during the whole year of 2015. In April to June 2018 a late follow-up was conducted in grade 4 and 6. Children were not followed over time avoiding the age-dependent decline in physical activity. |
| Intervention type | Behavioural |
| Primary outcome measure(s) |
Physical activity level, measured by wearing accelerometer and GPS for one week at two timepoints, between April to June 2014 (baseline) and in the same months in 2016 (post-intervention) |
| Key secondary outcome measure(s) |
Where the students are e.g., indoors/outdoors, measured by wearing accelerometer and GPS for one week at two timepoints, between April to June 2014 (baseline) and in the same months in 2016 (post-intervention) |
| Completion date | 01/04/2019 |
Eligibility
| Participant type(s) | Other |
|---|---|
| Age group | Child |
| Sex | All |
| Target sample size at registration | 1200 |
| Key inclusion criteria | Students grade 4-8 from 7 schools in Denmark |
| Key exclusion criteria | 1. Unhealthy students 2. Students from grade 0-3 |
| Date of first enrolment | 01/04/2013 |
| Date of final enrolment | 01/07/2018 |
Locations
Countries of recruitment
- Denmark
Study participating centre
Odense M
5230
Denmark
Results and Publications
| Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share | Yes |
|---|---|
| IPD sharing plan summary | Available on request |
| IPD sharing plan | The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are/will be available upon request from Henriette Bondo Andersen (hbandersen@health.sdu.dk). |
Study outputs
| Output type | Details | Date created | Date added | Peer reviewed? | Patient-facing? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results article | focus group results | 23/06/2014 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | results | 10/12/2014 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | 01/12/2015 | Yes | No | ||
| Results article | results | 06/01/2016 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | results | 09/02/2016 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | results | 01/09/2016 | Yes | No | |
| Results article | Nested sub study | 20/09/2019 | 19/06/2023 | Yes | No |
| Protocol article | protocol | 31/05/2015 | Yes | No | |
| Participant information sheet | Participant information sheet | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
| Study website | Study website | 11/11/2025 | 11/11/2025 | No | Yes |
Editorial Notes
19/06/2023: Publication reference added.
