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Abstract
BackgroundThe school has been identified as a key arena for physical activity promotion for young people. Effective change of physical activity behaviour requires identification of consistent and modifiable correlates. The study explores students' interests in school physical activity and facilities in the school environment and examines their associations with students' participation in physical activity during recess and their cross-level interaction effect.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was based on a national representative sample of Norwegian secondary schools and grade 8 students who participated in the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) 2005/06 study. The final sample comprised 68 schools and 1347 students. Physical environment characteristics were assessed through questionnaires completed by the principals, and students' physical activity and interests in physical activity were assessed through student self-completion questionnaires.ResultsMost students were interested in more opportunities for physical activity in school. Multilevel logistic regression models demonstrated that students attending schools with many facilities had 4.49 times (95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.93–10.44) higher odds of being physically active compared to students in schools with fewer facilities when adjusting for socio-economic status, sex and interests in school physical activity. Also open fields (Odds Ratio (OR) = 4.31, 95% CI = 1.65–11.28), outdoor obstacle course (OR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.32–2.40), playground equipment (OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.24–2.42) and room with cardio and weightlifting equipment (OR = 1.58, 95%CI = 1.18–2.10) were associated with increased participation in physical activity. Both students' overall interests and the physical facilitation of the school environment significantly contributed to the prediction of recess physical activity. The interaction term demonstrated that students' interests might moderate the effect of facilities on recess physical activity.ConclusionThe findings support the use of an ecological approach and multilevel analyses in the investigation of correlates of physical activity that allows for a broader understanding of the influence of and interaction between factors at multiple levels on physical activity behaviour. In the promotion of physical activity in lower secondary schools, the study suggests that programmes should include a focus on environmental facilitation and incorporate strategies to increase students' interests for school physical activity.
Highlights
The school has been identified as a key arena for physical activity promotion for young people
A considerable proportion of young people in the Western world fail to meet the 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity [1,2,3,4] recommended to gaining short- and long-term health benefits [5,6,7,8], with adolescents and girls reporting the lowest levels of physical activity [1,2,3,4]
The results suggest that students' interests may moderate the effect of environmental facilities, with strong associations between the physical activity and the environment found only for students that had strong interests in school physical activity
Summary
The school has been identified as a key arena for physical activity promotion for young people. A large number of national and cross-national policy plans across the western world have identified the school setting as a key arena for physical activity promotion for young people [9,10,11,12,13]. As recognized by ecological theories [20], physical activity is a complex behaviour determined by a large number of influences at multiple levels. The principle behind this approach is that personal, socio-cultural, physical environmental and policy factors interact to promote or discourage participation in physical activity [21]. By drawing attention to the environmental influences on physical activity behaviour, ecological models open up a broader range of potential strategies to promote physical activity
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