Press Release: Experts in Italy find that The Daily Mile significantly improves fitness of Italian primary school children and is easy to implement

EXPERTS IN ITALY FIND THAT THE DAILY MILE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVES FITNESS OF ITALIAN PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN & IS EASY TO IMPLEMENT

  • Research led by the University of Torino has found that The Daily Mile is versatile and transferable to primary schools in Italy.
  • Teachers saw positive effects within their school environment, after doing The Daily Mile.
  • Children who took part in The Daily Mile had significantly increased physical fitness and teachers found the programme extremely easy to implement into their school day.

The University of Torino has found that The Daily Mile is easy to implement and improves fitness of primary school children in Italy. In a study published on 15th October 2019, the University conducted research on 795 children across five primary schools in Italy. There were two groups – the control group which consisted of 309 students, and the experimental group which had 486 students who implemented The Daily Mile as per core principles for 3-months.

According to the University of Torino, 96.4% of teachers participating in the study said The Daily Mile has no negative impact on their teaching and 93% said The Daily Mile was extremely easy to implement. In total, 72% of teachers were very satisfied with the activity and compared to the control group, fitness significantly increased in the experiment group who completed The Daily Mile.

In Italy, 30.6% of primary school children are overweight or obese (Italian Ministry of Health report “Okkio alla salute”) which is alarmingly high compared to other European countries. The Daily Mile Foundation are hopeful that Research proving the initiative’s transferability will encourage even more countries to take up the initiative.

Elaine Wyllie MBE, founder of The Daily Mile, said, “I am delighted that the research undertaken by the University of Torino has found that The Daily Mile is significantly increasing the fitness of those children taking part and it is encouraging to see that Italian teachers found it as easy to implement in Italy as it is here in the UK. The research shows that if you stick to the simple core principles of The Daily Mile, it can be done anywhere and has a positive impact on the children.”

The Daily Mile, supported by INEOS, has to date been referenced in research conducted by the Universities of Stirling, Edinburgh and Highlands & Islands in Scotland, and by the Mulier Instituut in the Netherlands. The University of Torino have proven that The Daily Mile initiative is transferable to a different climate and schooling system.

Gennaro Boccia, Researcher from the University of Torino, said, “We were really excited to conduct this study on The Daily Mile. It’s a great initiative and we are extremely pleased that we got the results we did. To have Italian research find The Daily Mile has positive benefits on children and is also easy for teachers to implement is fantastic. Anything that benefits children is amazing, and we are really pleased to be supporting the cause.”

ENDS.

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