Department of Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences, Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, 7000 Fannin St, Houston, TX, 77030, USA.
Division of Youth Education, The Cooper Institute, 12330 Preston Road, Dallas, TX, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Oct 2;20(1):1495. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-09571-y.
Schools play an important role in providing access to physical activity opportunities for children. There are common economic and gender disparities in physical activity and health-related fitness among children, which may inform a school's programming needs. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding about gender, school-level socioeconomic status, and children's cardiorespiratory fitness.
This observational study used 2017-2018 school year data from schools in the Dallas Metropolitan area participating in the Healthy Zone School (HZS) program. Three data sources were integrated: 1) FitnessGram® data, 2) school-level data from the Texas Education Agency, and 3) HZS survey data. Being in the Healthy Fitness Zone (HFZ) for aerobic capacity was the dependent variable, and gender and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students (at the school-level) were key independent variables. Mixed-effects logistic regression models examined associations between dependent and independent variables. Final models were adjusted for age and type of aerobic test.
There were 67 schools and 15,052 students included in the analysis. When testing main effects, girls had lower odds for being in the HFZ for aerobic capacity than boys (OR = 0.54, CI = 0.47-0.62). Additionally, having a greater percentage of students who were economically disadvantaged was associated with lower odds for being in the HFZ for aerobic capacity (0.98, CI = 0.98-0.99). There was a significant interaction between gender and the percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Results indicated girls had even lower odds (than boys) for being in the HFZ in schools with 90% economically disadvantaged students (OR = 0.44, CI = 0.35-0.55) versus in schools with 15% economically disadvantage students (OR = 0.62, CI = 0.51-0.76).
Results suggest girls in Healthy Zone Schools have lower odds to meet aerobic capacity fitness standards than boys. Additionally, boys and girls in schools serving a greater percentage of economically disadvantaged students have lower odds to meet aerobic capacity fitness standards. Last, girls have even lower odds of meeting HFZ standard when attending a school serving a greater percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Thus, schools need to provide more programs for girls targeting aerobic physical activity. This is especially important for schools serving a high percentage of low-income students.
学校在为儿童提供体育活动机会方面发挥着重要作用。儿童的身体活动和与健康相关的体能方面存在着常见的经济和性别差异，这可能反映了学校的项目需求。本研究的目的是更好地了解性别、学校社会经济地位和儿童的心肺适能。
本观察性研究使用了参加达拉斯大都市区健康区学校（HZS）计划的学校在 2017-2018 学年的数据。整合了三个数据源：1）FitnessGram®数据；2）来自德克萨斯州教育机构的学校数据；3）HZS 调查数据。有氧能力处于健康健身区（HFZ）是因变量，性别和经济弱势群体学生的比例（学校层面）是关键的自变量。混合效应逻辑回归模型检验了因变量和自变量之间的关联。最终模型调整了年龄和有氧测试类型。
共纳入 67 所学校和 15052 名学生。在测试主要效应时，女孩在有氧能力方面处于 HFZ 的可能性低于男孩（OR=0.54，95%CI=0.47-0.62）。此外，有更多的经济弱势群体学生与处于 HFZ 有氧能力的可能性降低有关（0.98，95%CI=0.98-0.99）。性别和经济弱势群体学生比例之间存在显著的交互作用。结果表明，在 90%经济弱势群体学生的学校中，女孩处于 HFZ 的可能性（比男孩）甚至更低（OR=0.44，95%CI=0.35-0.55），而在 15%经济弱势群体学生的学校中，女孩处于 HFZ 的可能性（比男孩）更高（OR=0.62，95%CI=0.51-0.76）。
结果表明，健康区学校的女孩达到有氧能力健康标准的可能性低于男孩。此外，在为更多经济弱势群体学生服务的学校中，男孩和女孩达到有氧能力健康标准的可能性较低。最后，在为更多经济弱势群体学生服务的学校就读的女孩达到 HFZ 标准的可能性甚至更低。因此，学校需要为女孩提供更多针对有氧体育活动的项目。这对于为高比例低收入学生服务的学校尤为重要。
