Background/Purpose Research has shown that well-designed school based physical activity and extra-curricular sports programs can have a significant impact on the physical activity levels of young people.
Method Data were obtained through an online survey administered at four public middle schools (grades 6-8) in a southeastern United States city. Two schools were purposively selected, because they delivered sports exclusively through an intramural sports (IS) program instead of a traditional interscholastic sports program. Two other demographically similar schools in the same city that offered IS exclusively were also selected. Survey response rate by students was 89.9% (n=2,582). The survey focused on included demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity), and school sport participation within and beyond school.
Analysis/Results The results suggest that a highly competitive interscholastic sports model, which dominates most middle school afterschool sport opportunities, may be limiting sport participation of all students, especially among low income and racial minority populations. An alternate model of intramural sports not only attracts more students to play sport, but also may be of particular interest among students from low income/ racially diverse households.
Conclusions These results are currently being used to promote policy changes in North Carolina that would allow more children to participate and benefit from school sports. In partnership with health advocacy groups in North Carolina (i.e., NC Alliance for Health, Advocates for Health in Action, & Eat Smart Move More) plans have been initiated to present our findings and recommendations to the NC Legislative Task on Childhood Obesity, and the NC State Board of Education.
See more of: Research Consortium