Do student social background and school context affect implementation of a school-based physical activity program?

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between student- and school- characteristics and different implementation parameters of "Active All Year Round", a nationwide Danish school-based physical activity program. The study is based on data from multiple sources: questionnaire data from students from 16 fifth-grade school classes (n = 276) and their teachers (n = 16), in-class observations (n = 15) and register data. Predictors included the student-level characteristics of gender, family affluence, immigration background, and perception of school connectedness as well as the school-level characteristics of school size, school parental education level, school physical activity policy and school's prioritization of health promotion. Implementation was assessed by creating an implementation score from data on program psychological reach, dose delivered, dose received and fidelity. Data were analyzed by multilevel linear regression analysis. Findings indicated that the program was more easily implemented for students with higher school connectedness. To conclude, school-based health promotion programs can be improved by knowing, before the program is implemented, which factors increase the odds of better implementation.

Keywords: Implementation; Intervention; Physical activity; School connectedness; School context; Socioeconomic status.