Abstract

Introduction

Regular physical activity (PA) during childhood and adolescence has substantial benefits for physical, mental, and social health. For instance, leisure-time PA at age 9 to 15 years is associated with carotid artery elasticity during adulthood (Pälve et al., 2014) and being active as a child reduces depression risk in later life (Jacka et al., 2011). Sufficient engagement in PA, furthermore, improves sleep quality, bone structure, brain development and academic performance (Janssen & Leblanc, 2010; Poitras et al., 2016; Singh et al., 2019). Against this background, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of 60 min of moderate to vigorous PA per day to maintain or improve health in children and adolescents aged 5–17 years (Bull et al., 2020).

There is evidence that beneficial behavioral habits developed in childhood, e.g., an active lifestyle, tend to be sustained during adulthood (Fernandez-Jimenez et al., 2018). However, majority of the adolescents do not meet the PA recommendations (Guthold et al., 2020; van Sluijs et al., 2021). In Austria, according to the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study from 2022, the WHO recommendation of at least 1 h moderate to vigorous PA is achieved on 3.8 days (girls) and 4.5 days (boys) per week only (Felder-Puig, Teutsch & Winkler, 2023).

Physical inactivity and health may not only be influenced by intrapersonal (e.g., age, sex, well-being, personal beliefs) but also by environmental factors (Sallis et al., 2006). Besides social support or an individuals’ economic situation, it has been argued that public infrastructure and policy play a significant role for the engagement in PA (Sallis et al., 2006). As a consequence, the spaces, facilities and opportunities provided by cities and communities could substantially influence PA levels (Kelso et al., 2021; Tcymbal et al., 2020). Insights into the locations where PA occurs, thus have the potential to support active living. Kelso et al. (2021) demonstrated the importance of an activity-friendly design of recreational locations such as parks, playgrounds and other green areas. This, arguably, also applies to schools whose activity friendliness could be affected by school policy (e.g. number of physical education lessons and breaks) and infrastructure (e.g. availability of a playground or football court) (de Rezende et al., 2015; Ferrari et al., 2021; Kelso et al., 2021; Tcymbal et al., 2020).

According to Tassitano et al. (2020), about 50% of children’s daily PA are accumulated during schooltime. A review evaluating international data found daily moderate to vigorous PA at school to range between 0 and 38 min per day with a higher amount achieved outdoors than indoors (Dessing et al., 2013; Kelso et al., 2021). In Austria, children and adolescents engage in two to four mandatory PE lessons per week, depending on the type of school and the age of the students which means that the PA recommendations cannot be fulfilled through the regular curricula. Interestingly, in Germany, the overall time spent in extracurricular sports increased from 6 to 17 min per week over the last years (Schmidt et al., 2020), but it is unclear if this is also the case in the neighboring country of Austria. There is evidence that a higher amount of PA can be seen on school days than on days without school visits (Guinhouya et al., 2009; Klinker et al., 2014; Schmidt et al., 2020). Activity promotion at school, therefore, is of paramount importance (Guinhouya et al., 2009; Hills, Dengel & Lubans, 2015).

As indicated above, a growing body of research demonstrates that engaging in PA during school time is not merely an individual’s choice but substantially influenced by the school environment (McGrath, Hopkins & Hinckson, 2015; Zhou & Wang, 2019). In fact, Zhou & Wang (2019) and de Rezende et al. (2015) found available outdoor facilities such as soccer fields or playgrounds to be associated with motor skill proficiency and PA levels in secondary schools. Tonge, Jones & Okely (2016) focused on younger children, reporting larger outdoor environments to improve PA and reduce sedentary behavior. de Rezende et al. (2015) identified an association of the number of PA facilities (e.g. sports courts, running tracks, swimming pools) and PA in adolescents: while at least two facilities were suitable to increase total PA, at least four were required to enhance leisure-time PA.

In addition to the availability of PA facilities, school policy appears to represent an essential factor in activity promotion. A variety of studies underscored the importance of intra- and extracurricular activities during school time for promoting a healthy lifestyle (Bonell et al., 2013a, 2013b; de Rezende et al., 2015; Morton et al., 2016; Tassitano et al., 2020). Others suggested policy measures for schools to increase PA, including involvement in projects such as active school or active commuting (Klos et al., 2023; Messing et al., 2019; Norris et al., 2020). Despite the solid evidence underpinning the value of an activity-friendly school environment, infrastructure and policy (de Rezende et al., 2015; Messing et al., 2019; Norris et al., 2020) high quality research is urgently needed. With regard to Austria, there is a paucity of data on PA opportunities provided at and during school. Our investigation therefore aimed to analyze the availability and accessibility of PA facilities (e.g. sports fields, playgrounds, athletics facilities) and the PA policy as reported by schools in a state of Austria.

Materials and Methods

Results

Discussion

Schools, if designed to be activity-friendly, represent pivotal elements of PA promotion for youth (Bonell et al., 2013a; de Rezende et al., 2015; Morton et al., 2016; Tassitano et al., 2020). A variety of measures can support children and adolescents in achieving the required PA levels according to the WHO recommendation and these include the provision of outdoor facilities (e.g., playgrounds or sports fields), offering of extracurricular courses, or the involvement in projects such as active transport or active school. Of note, previous literature (Carrasco-Uribarren et al., 2023; Hu et al., 2021; Masini et al., 2020; Morton et al., 2016) had predominantly focused on the effects of specific PA interventions in individual schools, but little research has investigated the availability and actual use of PA promotion strategies from a more population-based perspective (Amornsriwatanakul et al., 2021; de Rezende et al., 2015; Morton et al., 2016).

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first assessment of schools’ activity friendliness that aimed to gauge the current situation of PA facilities and school policy in four different types of schools in Austria. Our main finding, based on an analysis of responses from primary, middle, high and vocational high schools, is that the educational institutions in Carinthia seem mostly well-equipped with regard to infrastructural aspects as the mean number of PA facilities was 4.2 ± 2 across the investigated sample. According to Ferrari et al. (2021) the level of PA is 3–4 times higher in schools with more facilities (≥3) than in schools with fewer facilities. With regard to the specific number, Haug et al. (2010) found out that four of eight studied infrastructural characteristics (soccer fields, areas for hopscotch/skipping rope, playground equipment and sledding hill) were significant predictors for daily PA. de Rezende et al. (2015) reported four or more facilities to increase leisure-time PA. As our study showed a mean number of four activity facilities, the average school in Carinthia appears to provide sufficient infrastructural PA promotion. Of note, the number of PA facilities seems to be more important for promoting PA than provision of PE classes itself (Sales et al., 2023). This could be explained by the freedom of choice in doing preferred activities alone or in groups contrary to the rigid and organized structure of PE classes (de Rezende et al., 2015; Haug et al., 2010). Interestingly, our results showed a negative correlation between the participation rate in PE lessons and the number of PA facilities. Although the size of the effect was small, this finding is in contrast to previous studies indicating that students spend more time in PE classes with better PA infrastructure (Coledam et al., 2014; de Rezende et al., 2015; Zhou & Wang, 2019).

Total PA facility counts were different between school types. We found the largest number in high schools while primary schools had the lowest. As mentioned, environmental characteristics are contributors to daily PA (Amornsriwatanakul et al., 2021; Ferrari et al., 2021) and primary schools are particularly important in combating the decline in PA as the decrease begins at the transition from early childhood to primary school (Carrasco-Uribarren et al., 2023; Chong et al., 2020; Steene-Johannessen et al., 2020; Weaver et al., 2021). Improving the amount, variety and condition of activity facilities in primary schools is a highly relevant strategy to increase PA levels throughout the school career (de Rezende et al., 2015; Tonge, Jones & Okely, 2016). Therefore, particularly primary school may be considered when investing into the activity friendliness of schools.

The analysis of schools’ PA policies draws a slightly different picture. Although the situation may be considered satisfactory, a significant portion of schools do not promote PA using projects (54.8%), cooperations with sports clubs (44.4%), participation in sport events (33.1%), or regular fitness tests (78.2%). Our study also identified differences in PA policy between school types. Again, high schools showed greater levels of PA promotion. These findings align with a previous study (Morton et al., 2016) which showed a more positively perceived physical environment, and a greater amount of extracurricular physical activity offerings in high schools than in primary schools. High schools, in our study, also had the highest percentage of qualified PE teachers. It is well established that children taught by PE specialists have a higher activity level resulting in a higher energy expenditure rate during PE classes (Ferrari et al., 2021; Martin et al., 2014).

The importance of break times has been outlined in the previous literature (Murray & Ramstetter, 2013; Parrish et al., 2020; Sales et al., 2023). However, Baines & Blatchford (2023) reported marked changes between 1995 and 2017 in the total time of school breaks in the United Kingdom: In primary schools, a weekly reduction of about 40 min of breaktime was seen, and in secondary schools, the decrease amounted more than 1 h. The morning break duration of 15–20 min in both primary and secondary schools is consistent with our findings (overall mean duration of 15 min). However, interestingly, we documented shorter breaks in high schools (10 min). As there is a positive association between break duration and PA levels (Lau et al., 2017), the Carinthian high schools may consider implementing higher break lengths.

Our study has practical implications, underscoring the need for appropriate infrastructure and PA promotion in schools to act as places for sustainable health education. We showed that the provision of PA infrastructure may depend on the type of school and while the number of facilities is generally high, primary schools display lower counts than other types of schools. Seeking to increase facilities in primary and middle schools could hence more effectively support children’s and public health.

However, merely providing infrastructure may not be sufficient to fully exploit the potential of PA promotion in schools. We recommend the involvement of schools in PA projects and initiatives which aim to provide children with sufficient time to engage in PA (e.g., longer break durations and/or extracurricular PE lessons).

Conclusions

Schools in Carinthia are mostly well-equipped with regard to PA infrastructure (i.e. the number of PA facilities), but this does not apply to primary schools. Schools’ PA policy requires improvement as only half of the schools are offering extracurricular PA programs or PA promotion projects. Particularly, primary schools display a need for action in view of the smaller number of PA facilities and the lower use of PA promotion strategies.

Supplemental Information

Acknowledgments

Funding Statement

The authors received no funding for this work.

References