Association of physical education with physical activity among adolescent girls and boys

Background: Lack of physical activity is associated with obesity in youth. Participation in school-based physical education (PE) has been linked to increased levels of physical activity. Although previous research has investigated the impact of changes to PE classes on physical activity in a sample of schools, few population-based studies have examined this relationship. Methods: Using data from the 2007 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), a population-based survey of California households, we examined the association of participation in school PE with physical activity among adolescent girls and boys adjusting for a range of individual, family and school characteristics. Results: In California, only 28% of girls and 46% of boys were physically active for at least 60 minutes on 5 or more days in the last week. In regression analyses stratified by gender, taking PE was associated with being physically active on more days per week for girls but not for boys. Among adolescent girls, being older, Latina, Asian, and from a lower-income family was associated with fewer days with 60 or more minutes of physical activity. Among adolescent boys, being Latino, being Asian, and attending a school that was less than 25% white was associated with fewer days with 60 or more minutes of physical activity. Conclusions: Participation in PE at school was associated with more physical activity among girls but not boys. The current results suggest that participating in school physical education classes may be especially important in helping girls at higher risk for obesity to achieve more physical activity.