Effects of gender, activity type, class location and class composition on physical activity levels experienced during physical education classes in British secondary schools: a pilot cross-sectional study

Heidi Johansen-Berg,Patrick Esser,Nick Beale,Emma Eldridge,Floris Bozon,Hooshang Izadi,Helen Dawes,Catherine Wheatley,Anne Delextrat

doi:10.1186/s12889-020-09698-y

Abstract

BackgroundPupils in secondary schools do not meet the targets for physical activity levels during physical education (PE) sessions, and there is a lack of data on the vigorous physical activity domain (VPA) in PE known to be positively associated with cardio metabolic health While PE session intensity depends on a variety of factors, the large majority of studies investigating these factors have not taken into account the nested structure of this type of data set. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between various factors (gender, activity type, class location and class composition) and various activity levels during PE classes in secondary schools, using a multi-level statistical approach.MethodsYear eight (12–13 years old) adolescents (201 boys and 106 girls) from six schools were fitted with accelerometers during one PE session each, to determine the percentage (%) of the PE session time spent in sedentary (SPA), light (LPA), moderate (MPA), vigorous (VPA) and moderate-to-vigorous (MVPA) intensity levels. Two- and three-level (pupils, n = 307; classes, n = 13, schools, n = 6) mixed-effect models were used to assess the relationship between accelerometer-measured physical activity levels (% of class time spent in various activity levels) and gender, activity type, class location and composition.ResultsParticipants engaged in MVPA and VPA for 30.7 ± 1.2% and 11.5 ± 0.8% of PE classes, respectively. Overall, no significant association between gender or class composition and PA was shown. A significant relationship between activity type and PA was observed, with Artistic classes significantly less active than Fitness classes for VPA (5.4 ± 4.5 vs. 12.5 ± 7.1%, p = 0.043, d:1.19). We also found a significant association between class location and PA, with significantly less time spent in SPA (24.8 ± 4.8% vs. 30.0 ± 3.4%, p = 0.042, d:0.77) and significantly more time spent in VPA (12.4 ± 3.7% vs. 7.6 ± 2.0%, p = 0.022, d:1.93) and MVPA (32.3 ± 6.7% vs.24.8 ± 3.8%, p = 0.024, d:1.33) in outdoors vs. indoors classes.ConclusionsThe results suggest that class location and activity type could be associated with the intensity of PA in PE. It is essential to take into account the clustered nature of this type of data in similar studies if the sample size allows it.

Highlights

Pupils in secondary schools do not meet the targets for physical activity levels during physical education (PE) sessions, and there is a lack of data on the vigorous physical activity domain (VPA) in PE known to be positively associated with cardio metabolic health While PE session intensity depends on a variety of factors, the large majority of studies investigating these factors have not taken into account the nested structure of this type of data set
moderate-tovigorous physical activity (MVPA) accounted for 30.7 ± 1.2% of the PE class
The class composition variable did not converge for the Sedentary physical activity (SPA) (Model 1), and its effects on the % of PE time spent in sedentary activities could not be analysed

Summary

Introduction

Pupils in secondary schools do not meet the targets for physical activity levels during physical education (PE) sessions, and there is a lack of data on the vigorous physical activity domain (VPA) in PE known to be positively associated with cardio metabolic health While PE session intensity depends on a variety of factors, the large majority of studies investigating these factors have not taken into account the nested structure of this type of data set. The vigorous PA domain (VPA) has been associated with a more favourable cardiometabolic risk profile in youth [4], and with greater benefits than moderate physical activity (MPA) on adiposity, bone health, insulin and blood lipid profiles, and blood pressure [4,5,6]. Despite these positive observations, physical activity trends globally indicate that only about 20% of adolescents meet the recommendation of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to participate in 60 min of MVPA daily [7]. For VPA, a wide range of data is reported in the literature (from 5.1 to 34.8% of the PE class, [12,13,14,15])

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