School of Public Health and Health Systems, University of Waterloo, TJB 2324, 200 University Ave W, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada.
Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Nov 8;21(1):2045. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12090-z.
Despite the benefits of physical activity (PA), the majority of Canadian youth are falling short of the recommended 60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. School-based physical activity programs such as intramurals, are important opportunities for youth to be physically active. There is limited evidence available on the impact of gender-specific (e.g., female-only, male-only) and co-ed intramurals on youth PA over time, however, evidence suggests female-only intramurals may be important for female MVPA. This research aims to capitalize on a natural experiment to generate practice-based evidence on the impact of changes in gender-specific and co-ed intramurals on youth MVPA over time.
This study used linked longitudinal school- and student-level data from Ontario secondary schools in year 5 (Y5:2016-2017), year 6 (Y6: 2017-2018) and year 7 (Y7: 2018-2019) of the COMPASS study. Data on intramurals from 55 schools were used to determine the changes to gender-specific and co-ed intramurals that occurred from Y5 to Y6. Baseline demographic characteristics were measured and data on PA and sport participation were collected in Y5, Y6 and Y7 on a sample of 4417 students. Hierarchical linear mixed regression models were used to estimate how changes in gender-specific and co-ed intramurals were associated with youth MVPA over time.
Participation in intramural, varsity and community sport were all positively and significantly associated with youth MVPA. Changes in gender-specific and co-ed intramurals were not significantly associated with youth MVPA in Y6 or Y7. However, the positive association between maintaining the addition of gender-specific intramurals on female MVPA in Y7 was on par with the significance level of α = 0.05, suggesting that adding gender-specific intramurals may be important for female MVPA.
Adding gender-specific and co-ed intramurals may not be sufficient strategies to increase PA among youth. Further research should explore the effect of gender-specific intramurals on youth PA, as this study may have been underpowered at the school-level. Gender-specific intramurals may promote a supportive PA environment that promotes MVPA, especially among females. These intramurals may be an important component of more comprehensive strategies to increase youth MVPA.
尽管身体活动（PA）有诸多益处，但大多数加拿大青少年每天的运动量都未达到建议的 60 分钟中等至剧烈强度的身体活动（MVPA）。校内身体活动项目，如校内体育活动，是青少年进行身体活动的重要机会。然而，目前关于性别特定（如仅限女性、仅限男性）和男女混合校内体育活动对青少年 PA 的影响的证据有限，但是有证据表明，仅限女性的校内体育活动可能对女性的 MVPA 很重要。本研究旨在利用自然实验，生成关于性别特定和男女混合校内体育活动随时间变化对青少年 MVPA 影响的基于实践的证据。
本研究使用了来自安大略省中学的纵向学校和学生层面的数据，该数据来自 COMPASS 研究的第 5 年（Y5：2016-2017 年）、第 6 年（Y6：2017-2018 年）和第 7 年（Y7：2018-2019 年）。使用 55 所学校的校内体育活动数据来确定 Y5 到 Y6 期间性别特定和男女混合校内体育活动的变化。在 Y5、Y6 和 Y7 期间，对 4417 名学生的基本人口统计学特征进行了测量，并收集了 PA 和运动参与的数据。使用分层线性混合回归模型来估计性别特定和男女混合校内体育活动的变化与青少年 MVPA 随时间的关系。
参加校内体育活动、校际体育活动和社区体育活动均与青少年 MVPA 呈正相关且显著相关。Y6 和 Y7 期间，性别特定和男女混合校内体育活动的变化与青少年 MVPA 无显著相关性。然而，Y7 年维持增设仅限女性的校内体育活动对女性 MVPA 的积极影响与 α=0.05 的显著性水平相当，这表明增设仅限女性的校内体育活动对女性 MVPA 可能很重要。
增加性别特定和男女混合校内体育活动可能不是增加青少年 PA 的充分策略。进一步的研究应探讨仅限女性的校内体育活动对青少年 PA 的影响，因为本研究在学校层面可能力量不足。仅限女性的校内体育活动可能会促进一个支持 PA 的环境，从而促进 MVPA，尤其是女性。这些校内体育活动可能是增加青少年 MVPA 的更全面策略的重要组成部分。
