More PE at school could get kids off the couch

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-03-12 00:01

New Zealand

Credit: Robert Collins/Unsplash

More physical education at school would have a big impact on kids’ activity levels, NZ researchers predict. Drawing on data from around 9000 young people, they say that simply increasing PE to 2.5 hours weekly would more than halve the percentage of kids who are only minimally active, and would mean more kids meet NZ's activity recommendations.

Media release

From: New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA)

Key Points

Currently, 39% of young people do not meet physical activity guidelines and 19% do not do even half the recommended amount
Increasing school-based physical education (PE) to be in line with international best practice (2.5hours/week) would increase young people’s physical activity
Increasing school-based physical education would increase physical activity in the young people that are the least active and therefore have the most to gain

Summary

This study looks at the impact of increasing school-based physical education (PE) on young people’s physical-activity levels. The study was based on data from the Sport New Zealand 2017/18 Active NZ Young People Survey of around 9,000 young people aged 5–17 years. If Aotearoa New Zealand increased the amount of PE time to be in-line with international best practice (2.5hours/week), the percentage of young people meeting physical-activity guidelines would increase. Importantly, increasing PE would increase physical activity in young people who are currently the least active and therefore have the most to gain from doing more physical activity.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: University of Otago, Victoria University of Wellington, The University of Sydney, Sport New Zealand

Funder: Sport NZ provided the funding for this study as part of a larger project and were responsible for collecting the data that was used in this study. Sport NZ staff members contributed to the analysis and interpretation of data and are included as co-authors (BL and JR). Dr Mizdrak reports grants from Sport New Zealand, during the conduct of the study. Dr Lynch reports being currently employed by Sport New Zealand, the government ministry responsible for physical activity.

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