Association between joint use agreements and adolescent physical activity and sedentary behavior

Purpose: Research examining the impact of joint use agreements (JUA) on physical activity (PA) is limited, but studies show that children with access to existing/renovated school recreational facilities outside of regular school hours are more likely to be active. However, policy strategies are needed to not only increase PA, but decrease sedentary activity among youth. Most school districts have JUAs that address recreational use of school facilities, but most of these policies contain vague language or limit the types of shared use and facilities that are available to the public during non-school hours. Therefore, we examined whether stronger JUAs are associated with increased PA, as well as decreased sedentary behavior in adolescents.

Methods: Data on PA, sports participation, and sedentary behavior were taken from annual cross-sectional nationally representative samples of 8th, 10th and 12th grade public school students in the US. A JUA scale was constructed using information obtained from corresponding school district JUAs and associated JU-related policies. Multivariate analyses were conducted, controlling for youth and community demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and clustering at the district/school level.

Results/Findings: Preliminary results showed more specific JUAs were associated with decreased sedentary behavior in adolescents. JUAs were associated with increased PA in black adolescents, but ones specifying that community (vs. school) organizations had priority use of facilities outside school hours were negatively associated with school-based sports participation among females students.

Conclusions: This study provides some of the first initial evidence of the association between joint use policies and adolescent PA and sedentary behavior.