Author(s): Brenton Button and Ian Janssen
Objective: The school built environment may interact with school policies and programs to promote or hinder student participation in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). The purpose of this study was to explore the interactive effects of the school built environment and physical activity programs and policies on the MVPA of students while at school. Methods: Data from 17,917 grade 6-10 students from 316 schools who participated in the 2009/10 Canadian Health Behavior in School-Aged Children survey were analyzed using multi-level regression. Students answered questions on the amount of time they spend in MVPA at school. Administrator reports were used to create physical activity related built environment and program/policy scores for each school. Results: The school built environment score was positively associated with student MVPA (p<.001). This association was moderated by the programs and policies on MVPA such that the association existed in schools with low policy/program scores but not in schools with moderate or high program/policy scores. Conclusion: The findings suggest that the school built environment is moderated by school policies and programs. These results set the stage for future intervention research addressing the role of the school built environment on students’ health
