School factors associated with the provision of physical education and levels of physical activity among elementary school students in Ontario

OBJECTIVES: To explore school and student characteristics associated with the number of physical education (PE) classes that elementary students received and to determine whether these characteristics and amount of PE were associated with the physical activity (PA) levels of elementary students. METHODS: Multi-level modeling with school-level (n = 30) and student-level (n = 2,447) questionnaire data from the PLAY-ON study was used to explore the school factors associated with the number of PE classes that students in grades 5 to 8 report receiving, and how these factors were associated with their PA. The Theories of Organizational Change served to operationalize the main school factors measured in this study and included assessments of: organizational climate (school practices related to PE or PA), organizational capacity (school ability to provide students with more PE or PA), and school PA/PE policies. RESULTS: The number of PE classes reported per week was higher in schools that had two PA facilities in addition to a gymnasium (beta = 1.13, p = 0.048) and in schools with greater levels of parental involvement in school-based PA decisions and programs (beta = 2.06, p = 0.001). However, students in schools that provided more intramural programs reported fewer PE classes than those without (beta = -1.97, p < 0.001). The number of PE classes provided in the previous week was associated with greater odds of students being highly active compared to minimally active (OR = 1.14, p = 0.003). CONCLUSION: Organizational and structural factors within the school environment are related to the amount of PE that students receive at school. Strategies are required to resolve the resulting inequities.