Effect of a Ban on Extracurricular Sports Activities by Secondary School Teachers on Physical Activity Levels of Adolescents: A Multilevel Analysis
To study the effect of a teachers' ban on supervising sports-related extracurricular physical activities (ECAs), levels of physical activity among 979 grade 7 students (mean age = 12.7 [0.5] years at baseline) were comparedduringand after the ban in seven schools that fully implementedthe ban, and three schools that did not implement the ban fully. On average, schools offered 18.0 ( SD = 5.1) ECAs during a no-ban school year. Students attending full implementation schools were significantly more likely than students in nonimplementation schoolsto be active after the banended(oddsratio forbeingactive = 1.89[95%confidenceinterval: 1.39,2.58]). They also increased the number of physical activities in which they participated (coefficient = 4.04; SE = 1.01). Ending a teachers' ban on sports-related ECAs was associated with increased involvement in physical activity among secondary school students.