The Daily Mile: Whole-school recommendations for implementation and sustainability. A mixed-methods study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric health
• Exercise science
• Educational psychology

Background:

• Childhood physical activity (PA) is crucial for health and education, yet most children do not meet daily guidelines.
• Schools are key settings for PA interventions, but implementation challenges affect sustainability and evaluation.
• The Daily Mile (TDM) is a widely adopted, 15-minute school-based PA intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the relationship between whole-school experiences and TDM implementation.
• To examine the association between TDM and children's cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) across socio-economic groups.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-methods approach combining qualitative (focus groups, interviews) and quantitative (CRF assessments) data.
• Thematic analysis of qualitative data from pupils, teachers, and headteachers.
• Linear regression analysis of CRF data (20m shuttle run test) from 258 children (aged 9-11) over 6 months.

Main Results:

• Qualitative findings highlighted factors for successful TDM implementation: flexibility, integration with play, goal setting, teacher involvement, and community support.
• Both deprived and non-deprived children showed similar increases in shuttle runs (4.7 vs. 4.8).
• No significant difference in CRF gains was found between socio-economic groups after adjusting for age and gender.

Conclusions:

• Flexible, adaptable, and whole-school approaches enhance TDM implementation and sustainability.
• TDM effectively improves children's cardiorespiratory fitness, regardless of socio-economic background.
• Recommendations are provided for optimizing TDM's future implementation and long-term success.