Active Mile Daily Track is a short physical activity programme in primary schools that involves children running outside for 15 minutes each day. It has been shown to increase MVPA, reduce sedentary time and improve fitness. It is a low-cost and non-commercial initiative that does not require training or equipment, and it is fully inclusive as all children can participate regardless of ability, gender, age and socioeconomic background. However, it is unknown whether the programme is an effective means of increasing fitness and reducing sedentary time in different educational contexts.

Using a purposive sampling strategy, teachers from seven schools were recruited to implement the programme or not (control group). All teachers received information sessions about the aim of the study and subsequently volunteered to introduce (experimental group) or not (control group) The Daily Mile in their class.

The Role of Active Mile Tracking in Weight Management

At baseline and post-test, the teachers monitored their children’s adherence to the programme, recorded any adverse events and completed a survey designed in accordance with feasibility studies guidelines. The questionnaire included six outcome measures related to the programme’s acceptability: perceived positive effects, ease of implementation, resources needed for implementation, satisfaction and intention to use.

Overall, the teachers were highly favourable towards The Daily Mile. They reported a number of anecdotally reported benefits, including improved concentration levels and behaviour. An economic analysis was conducted and found that for girls, The Daily Mile had a very high probability of being cost-effective at the UK threshold of PS20,000 per Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY). However, for boys, the model suggested a loss in QALYs.