The Effect of the KDL Active School Plan on Children and Adolescents’ Physical Fitness in China

Abstract

The development of physical fitness among Chinese children and adolescents is not fundamentally improving, and an exploration of effective ways to promote it is an urgent need. Research into physical fitness promotion in schools is increasingly deepening worldwide. However, the implementation and verification of intervention programs with local characteristics in accordance with China’s national conditions are relatively weak. This study conducted a randomized controlled trial to examine the effects of the KDL (Know it, Do it, Love it) Active School Plan (KDL-ASP) on children and adolescents’ physical fitness. A total of 596 students from level two (2nd-grade students) to five (11th-grade students) in China were assessed in terms of their physical fitness. Of these, 308 students were randomly selected to participate in the KDL-ASP, which uses a combination of indoor and outdoor sports activities in which teachers, parents, and students participate together. The remaining 288 students performed conventional physical activities. After one school year of intervention with the KDL-ASP, the physical fitness of the children and adolescents improved. The improvements in the speed of level two girls, the strength of level four boys, and the lung capacity of level five boys were the most obvious. These results demonstrate the viability of indigenized intervention in schools to improve physical fitness and suggest that KDL-ASP needs to be considered throughout the whole progress of physical education learning for children and adolescents.