Gender Differences in Students' Physical Activity Levels Across Different Activities

Background/Purpose:It has been evident that gender differences exist in students' physical activity (PA) levels in physical education (PE) (Gao et al., 2008; Kulinna et al., 2003). However, the majority of the current research has only utilized a cross-sectional design. Considering the fact that students might differ in their PA levels at different activities (e.g., male dominant activity vs. gender neutral activity), this study was designed to investigate gender differences in students' PA levels across two different activities using a repeated measures design.

Method:Participants were 381 junior high school students (158 girls; 78.6% Caucasian; Mage =13.62) enrolled in a suburban school. They participated in two different activity units (fitness unit and football unit) in PE during the time of data collection. The fitness unit represented a gender neutral activity while the football unit represented a traditional male dominant activity (Gao et al., 2008). Students' PA levels in one class were measured by ActiGraph GT1M accelerometers (Pensacola, FL) for each unit. Descriptive analyses determined students' percentage of time in various PA intensity levels (sedentary, light, and moderate to vigorous intensity [MVPA]). MANOVA with repeated measures were used to analyze data.

Analysis/Results:The results indicated a significant effect between time and gender, Wilks' Lambda = .85; F (3, 377) = 25.30, p < .001, h² = .17. Follow-up tests revealed that, in the football class, the boys spent significantly higher percentages of time in MVPA (M boys = 43.29%, M girls = 23.95%; p < .001) but lower percentages of time in sedentary (M boys = 10.41%, M girls = 25.75%; p <.001) than the girls did. However, no significant gender differences in students' PA levels were found in the fitness class.

Conclusions:The results suggested that the boys were more active than the girls in the male dominant activity (football). But both genders were equally active in gender neutral activity (fitness). It is possible that the girls are more active in the female dominant activity such as aerobic dance. Therefore, physical educators might provide a large variety of activities for the students to help them meet the 50% of PE class time in MVPA recommendation.