A Day in the Life: Secondary School Students' Experiences of School-Based Physical Activity in Ireland, Finland, and the United States.

Jaimie Mcmullen,Xiaoping Fan,Cassandra Iannucci,Collin Brooks

doi:10.3390/ijerph19031214

Abstract

Internationally, there is an effort to have schools adopt a whole-school approach to physical activity promotion. Such a model includes physical activity opportunities throughout the whole school day, including physical education; before, during, and after school physical activity; and staff and community engagement. The purpose of this study was to describe the physical activity experiences of young people attending secondary schools in Finland, Ireland, and the United States where a whole-school approach to physical activity promotion was employed. One school in each country was identified based on its adoption of a national physical activity initiative (i.e., Finland—Finnish Schools on the Move; Ireland—Active School Flag; United States—Let’s Move Active Schools). Data were collected through observation with field notes, photos, and interviews with key stakeholders. The results are presented as analytic narrative vignettes that represent a “typical” school day. The results provide a glimpse into available physical activity opportunities for young people at each school and demonstrate an emphasis on active school culture.

Highlights

The following narrative vignettes represent various experiences that young people had with physical activity opportunities at their secondary school
Despite there being various opportunities for young people to be active at the secondary schools examined in this study, students believed that there were fewer activities than they had access to in primary/elementary school, and they did not always feel as though the existing opportunities were accessible to them for a variety of reasons
Given that we know that physical activity levels of children and adolescents decline as they age, it is important to suggest ways in which we can make secondary schools more active places

Summary

Introduction

Schools are being asked to provide physical activity opportunities in addition to those that already exist (i.e., physical education, club sports, etc.) through a whole-school approach [1]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion