Skip a Rope for Fitness (SkaRF) : a school-based intervention to promote physical activity and fundamental movement skills in Maltese children

Abstract

Physical inactivity among children is a growing concern across Europe. In Malta, only 24% of eleven-year-olds meet the WHO’s recommended 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) daily. The SkaRF (Skip a Rope for Fitness) project was developed as a school-based intervention to increase physical activity and improve motor competence through rope skipping. This quasi-experimental study was implemented over three years with students aged 8 to 11. In Phase 1, 60 Year 4 students were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group engaged in 15-minute daily skipping sessions for four weeks. In Phase 2, the former control group joined the intervention in Year 5. In Phase 3, all students repeated the four-week intervention in Year 6. Five testing points were recorded: pre- and post-intervention in Phases 1 and 2, and post-intervention in Phase 3. [excerpt]