School-based physical activity and running programmes, such as The Daily Mile™, are increasing in popularity globally. The aim of this research was to examine the acute impact of such classroom physical activity breaks on cognition and affective wellbeing. A total of 5463 school pupils from 332 schools took part in a citizen science project with a repeated measures design. They completed tasks of cognition (inhibition, verbal, and visuo-spatial working memory) and the Children’s Feeling Scale and Felt Arousal Scale before and after three different outdoor activities: a classroom break of 15 min of self-paced activity, a near maximal exhaustion activity (the bleep test), and a no-exercise control group where pupils sat or stood outside. Wellbeing and fitness were examined as mediators of the relationship between outdoor activity and cognition. Fifteen minutes of self-paced outdoor activity was beneficial for pupils’ cognition and wellbeing in comparison to both other activities (Cohen’s d effect sizes ranging from 0.04 to 0.22; small). The relationship with cognition was not mediated by participants’ fitness level and was only partially mediated by wellbeing. Change scores for alertness were higher after the bleep test compared to the control activity but similar for all other outcomes. Taking a break from the classroom to complete 15 min of self-paced physical activity should be considered a worthwhile activity by class teachers, school management, and policymakers. Additionally, more intense physical activity should not be considered to be detrimental.

中文翻译：

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一项关于短期体育锻炼的公民科学研究在学校中断了：通过自定进度的锻炼提高认知和幸福感。

以学校为基础的体育活动和跑步计划，例如The Daily Mile™，在全球越来越受欢迎。这项研究的目的是研究这种课堂体育活动中断对认知和情感健康的严重影响。来自332所学校的5463名在校学生参加了一项具有重复措施设计的公民科学项目。他们在三种不同的户外活动前后完成了认知（抑制，言语和视觉空间工作记忆）以及儿童的情绪量表和感觉唤醒量表的任务：自习活动的课堂休息时间为15分钟，几乎是疲惫不堪活动（发声测试），以及没有运动的对照组，让学生坐在外面或站在外面。健康和健身被视为户外活动与认知之间关系的中介。与其他两项活动相比，十五分钟的自定进度的户外活动对学生的认知和幸福感都有好处（Cohen的影响范围为0.04至0.22；较小）。与认知的关系不是由参与者的健康水平介导的，而仅仅是由幸福感所介导的。突击试验后，警觉性变化得分高于对照组，但其他所有结果均相似。课堂教师，学校管理人员和政策制定者认为，离开教室休息一下以完成15分钟的自定进度的体育锻炼是值得的。另外，不应认为进行更剧烈的体育锻炼是有害的。