Participation in sports club is associated with higher physical activity and favorable weight status in Taiwanese adolescents

Introduction. - Physical inactivity in adolescents is a pandemic that can lead to long-term medical and social burden. This study aimed to investigate the effect of sports club participation on meeting the World Health Organization guidelines of 420 minutes of physical activity per week and body weight status in adolescents in Taiwan, where sports club participation rate is lower than that in Western countries. Summary of facts and results. - A nationally representative data of 44,206 junior high school students (19,893 male and 24,313 female) from Student Participation in Physical Activity Survey during 2013-2019 academic years were analyzed. Sports club participation, height and body weight, and weekly duration of physical activity during school semester and summer and winter vacations were self -reported. Results. - Of all responders, 30.6% of the responders participated in sport clubs, who were more likely to meet the recommended physical activity level during the school semester (odds ratio [OR], 3.94; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.58-4.33) and summer (OR: 2.52; 95% CI: 2.35-2.71) and winter vacations (OR: 2.66; 95% CI: 2.45-2.88). In addition, participation in sports club is associated with lower likelihood of being underweight (OR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.79-0.90), overweight (OR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.79-0.90), or obese (OR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.69-0.84). Conclusion. - This study highlights the importance of sport clubs in promoting physical activity and maintaining normal body weight status in Asian adolescents. Schools and government should increase the number of school -based and out -of -school sport clubs and promote participation. (c) 2023 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.