Studies also found that bullying had a surprising effect on exercise levels. Bullying. Female students who reported bullying were more likely to be physically active, while male students who reported bullying were less likely.
Studies have also found that a more supportive school environment is associated with students with higher levels of physical activity.
Three out of four teens aren’t exercising enough, and this problem is especially common among female students.
However, a recent study at the University of Georgia has shown that fostering a healthier school environment can boost teenage physical activity.
According to lead research author Janani R. Thapa, school is crucial in helping adolescents behave healthy, such as good eating habits. The same applies to exercise.
Survey results recently published Adolescent journal.
“School breaks, physical facilities and social environments have been found to affect student physical activity,” said Thapa, an associate professor of health policy and management at UGA’s University of Public Health. I am.
Georgia has policies and programs to increase physical activity in schools from kindergarten to high school. Thapa was an important figure in the evaluation of these programs.
“Over time, the state has observed a decline in the level of physical activity among all adolescents, but the rate is higher among female middle and high school students,” she said.
Tapa believed that the school climate could play an important role in determining how comfortable students feel to participate in school sports and other physical activities. School climate includes factors such as social support, safety and bullying.
“We don’t know much about the role of school climate in physical activity,” Tapa said. “There must have been a barrier faced by a particular group of students. Therefore, we wanted to investigate gender differences.”
Thapa and her co-authors could test the relationship using data from a state-wide survey of more than 360,000 Georgia high school students, including questions about physical activity level and school climate. I was able to do it.
The data includes eight climatic characteristics: school ties, peer social support, adult social support, cultural acceptance, physical environment, school safety, alumni persecution (bullying), and school support environment. I did.
Overall, female students reported less physical activity than male students, with only 35% active compared to 57% of males. And physical activity decreased steadily from 9th grade to 12th grade in both genders.
However, students of both genders were more physically active when most measures were perceived as having a favorable school climate.
What stood out was the effect of bullying. Female students who reported being bullied were more likely to be physically active, and male students who reported being bullied were less likely to be physically active.
Bullying was the only measure of different school climates for boys and girls. The authors said that this disparity can be explained by different norms about exercise and masculine and feminine ideals.
“For example, female students who are active and physically active in sports may not meet gender criteria and therefore may face bullying,” says Thapa.
These findings show that schools from kindergarten to high school that want to encourage participation in physical activity need to consider ways to improve student security at school and enhance exercise support for peers and adults. Suggests.
Reference: “School Climate-Related Determinants of Physical Activity for High School Girls and Boys” by Janani Rajbhandari-Thapa, Isha Metzger, Justin Ingels, Kiran Thapa and Kathryn Chiang, April 24, 2022. Adolescent journal..
DOI: 10.1002 / jad.12052
