Details

Purpose: The purpose of this symposium is to discuss the potential scalability of school-based high-intensity interval training (HIIT) programs using findings from four interventions targeting various adolescent populations.

Rationale: Physical activity declines rapidly during adolescence, and globally, less than 20% of adolescents are sufficiently active. Schools are ideal settings for physical activity interventions, but there are many barriers to implementation. HIIT is a time-efficient form of exercise that involves relatively short, yet intense bouts of activity, interspersed with periods of active rest or recovery. Despite evidence for the health benefits, HIIT has become a polarising form of exercise, with the suggestion that it has little potential as a population health promotion strategy. Most youth HIIT studies have been delivered by researchers and designed to establish efficacy - with little consideration of how they will work in the “real world”. Identifying the barriers and facilitators to implementation is needed to ‘scale-up’ school-based HIIT programs to improve population health.

Objectives: The aims of this symposium are threefold. First, to provide an overview of the benefits and criticisms of school-based HIIT programs. Second, to identify the barriers and facilitators to implementation in three school-based HIIT programs; and finally introduce a conceptual model for scaling-up school-based HIIT programs.

Summary: The Chair will provide a brief overview of school-based HIIT programs, including evidence for the benefits and common criticisms. The first speaker, Dr Katy Weston, will discuss the usefulness of process evaluations of school-based HIIT, as a means of exploring future implementation and scalability. This will be contextualised through data from school-based HIIT programs, delivered in English secondary schools situated in high levels of deprivation. The second speaker, Dr Angus Leahy will address considerations for the delivery of an Australian HIIT program targeting older adolescents. He will discuss the progression of the Burn 2 Learn (B2L) program, addressing key facilitators and barriers to implementation at scale. The third speaker, Professor Nigel Harris will provide an overview of a teacher-delivered, curriculum integrated HIIT program. The program uniquely involves sessions based on New Zealand indigenous narratives. Finally, the Discussant will introduce a conceptual model for scaling-up school-based HIIT programs. School-based HIIT programs have the potential to improve population health if they are (i) integrated into existing opportunities at school, (ii) designed to develop adolescents’ physical literacy, (iii) delivered in an engaging manner, and (iv) supported by an implementation framework that addresses relevant barriers and facilitators.

Speaker