Coeducational Intervention to Physically Activate Young People 10 to 16 During School Breaks

Abstract

Levels of physical activity or inactivity in the young population is especially important if considered from a gender perspective. Trying to increase the levels of physical activity of students from a gender perspective should generate an active and coeducational school break. The aim of the study was to know the type of activities carried out in the school breaks as well as the effect of the students' gender on the occupation of spaces and the participation rate in games and active tasks. On the other hand, to check if an intervention focused on overcoming sexism in breaks modifies the levels of activity or inactivity of boys and girls and the unequal distribution of spaces, as well as the long-term effects of this intervention. The intervention was carried out on a sample of 112 students (49 girls and 63 boys) and it consisted in the reorganization of the break so that different spaces were provided to play different sports. Variables such as the number of active and inactive boys and girls or the occupation of the different areas of the school playgrounds were recorded at 4 different moments (before, throughout, one week after and two months after the intervention). After the statistical analysis the results show that before the intervention boys were more active in the breaks and that they dominated the central part of the playground, where typically male games were predominant. Nevertheless, most of these differences, which disappear during the intervention, still do not appear in the long run. The number of active boys and girls become similar, although it was not due to the increase in the amount of activity in the girls, but to the decrease in boys.