Prevalence and social-environmental correlates of sport team participation among alternative high school students

Purpose: Students attending alternative high schools (AHS) are among the most sedentary adolescents in the US, placing them at increased risk for obesity and its associated co-morbidities. Sport team participation has been linked to increased physical activity (PA) and decreased overweight among general adolescent populations. However, little is known about sport team participation among AHS students.

Methods: In fall 2006, a convenience sample of students (n=143; mean age= 17 years; 53% male; 60% racial/ethnic minorities; 63% low-income) attending 6 alternative high schools in St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN completed baseline self-administered surveys. Students were participants in the Team COOL pilot study, a group randomized obesity prevention trial. Mixed model multivariate logistic regression was used to examine cross-sectional associations between sport team participation (any versus none) and selected social-environmental factors hypothesized to be associated with participation, including a 4-item school staff support scale (alpha=0.89), 4-item peer support scale (alpha=0.91), and 16-item perceived barriers scale (alpha=0.88).

Results: Among students, 40% (60 % males, 40% females; p=0.181) participated in ≥ 1 school/community-based sport teams. The odds of participating on a sport team were positively associated with social support from school staff (OR= 1.117, p=0.014) and peers (OR= 1.154, p=0.005), but inversely associated with perceived barriers to PA (OR=0.949, p= 0.014).

Conclusions: Study results suggest that AHS students who receive more social support from school staff and peers and encounter fewer barriers to PA are more likely to participate on sport teams. Interventions to increase PA through sport team participation should focus on social-environmental factors.