The Daily Mile and children’s physical activity, mental health, and educational performance: a quasi-experimental study in Greater London primary schools
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objectives
To examine associations between The Daily Mile, a school-based active mile intervention, and pupils’ physical activity, mental health, and educational performance.
Methods
Year 1 pupils (aged 5-6 years) from Greater London primary schools were invited. Schools were allocated to The Daily Mile or non-Daily Mile group based on their reported Daily Mile participation. We measured weekday school hours mean minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using GENEActiv accelerometers. Other outcomes included time spent sedentary and in light activity, mental health, and educational performance. Multi-level linear regression models examined differences accounting for repeated measurements (day) clustered by pupils-, class-, and school-level, with adjustments for sex, ethnic group, area-level deprivation, and month of assessment.
Results
A total 1,004 pupils/40 schools were recruited and assessed between October 2021-January 2023; 21 schools/499 pupils comprised The Daily Mile group; 19 schools/505 pupils the non-Daily Mile group. Daily Mile pupils spent 2.2 minutes more in MVPA compared with non-Daily Mile pupils, but the difference was not significant (0.78, 95% CI: -2.14, 3.69). Daily Mile pupils spent less time sedentary and more time in light activity compared with the non-Daily Mile pupils, but not significantly (-5.06, 95% CI: -15.37, 5.26 and 3.27, 95% CI: -4.26, 10.81, respectively). There were no differences in mental health or educational performance.
Conclusions
We found no associations between The Daily Mile and pupils’ physical activity, mental health, and educational performance. Pupils in our study were in Year 1 with early exposure to the intervention; assessments over longer periods are needed to understand any benefits.
To examine associations between The Daily Mile, a school-based active mile intervention, and pupils’ physical activity, mental health, and educational performance.
Methods
Year 1 pupils (aged 5-6 years) from Greater London primary schools were invited. Schools were allocated to The Daily Mile or non-Daily Mile group based on their reported Daily Mile participation. We measured weekday school hours mean minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using GENEActiv accelerometers. Other outcomes included time spent sedentary and in light activity, mental health, and educational performance. Multi-level linear regression models examined differences accounting for repeated measurements (day) clustered by pupils-, class-, and school-level, with adjustments for sex, ethnic group, area-level deprivation, and month of assessment.
Results
A total 1,004 pupils/40 schools were recruited and assessed between October 2021-January 2023; 21 schools/499 pupils comprised The Daily Mile group; 19 schools/505 pupils the non-Daily Mile group. Daily Mile pupils spent 2.2 minutes more in MVPA compared with non-Daily Mile pupils, but the difference was not significant (0.78, 95% CI: -2.14, 3.69). Daily Mile pupils spent less time sedentary and more time in light activity compared with the non-Daily Mile pupils, but not significantly (-5.06, 95% CI: -15.37, 5.26 and 3.27, 95% CI: -4.26, 10.81, respectively). There were no differences in mental health or educational performance.
Conclusions
We found no associations between The Daily Mile and pupils’ physical activity, mental health, and educational performance. Pupils in our study were in Year 1 with early exposure to the intervention; assessments over longer periods are needed to understand any benefits.
Date Issued
2026-01-01
Date Acceptance
2025-12-16
Citation
BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine, 2026, 12 (1)
ISSN
2055-7647
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Journal / Book Title
BMJ Open Sport and Exercise Medicine
Volume
12
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ Group. For numbered affiliations see end of article. This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1136/bmjsem-2025-002821
Subjects
pulmonary rehabilitation
home-based
centre-based
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
002821
Date Publish Online
2026-01-03