Effects of a health-promotion programme in sixth grade German students' physical education

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of a school-based health-promotion programme in physical education (PE) on sixth grade German students' motor performance, BMI and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). In a quasi-experimental design, 516 students (54.7% girls) were assigned to either the intervention group (IG) that received eight 90-minute health-promoting PE lessons or the control group (CG), which continued regular PE. Outcome variables were assessed at baseline, immediately after, and three months after the intervention in order to explore significant short- and middle-term intervention effects, respectively. The intervention programme had gender specific effects in motor performance with girls reaching higher levels. Positive short-term intervention effects were found in girls' sideways jumps (η (2)=0.17) and negative effects were measured in the 20-meter sprints (η (2)=0.05) and the standing long jump (η (2)=0.04). Positive middle-term effects were measured on the motor performance score (η (2)=0.05), sideways jumps (η (2)=0.08) and stand-and-reach flexibility (η (2)=0.04). In boys, short-term positive intervention effects were found in 20-meter sprints (η (2)=0.04). In the middle-term, differences in favour of the CG were found in press-ups (η (2)=0.03) and sideways jumps (η (2)=0.06). Concerning BMI the IG had significantly lower levels compared to the CG in the short-term (η (2)=0.04) and in the middle-term (η (2)=0.03), respectively. There were no significant differences between the groups in HRQOL. In conclusion, the results demonstrate the feasibility of promoting health related parameters in PE, but also raise the question whether gender-specific tailored interventions would result in higher intervention effects concerning motor performance especially in boys.