Researchers of a study conducted recently have concluded that students that play school sports are just seven minutes more active than students who do not play sports in school.

The journal of Science and Medicine in Sport has already published the findings of the study revealing that organized high school sports accounts to just 4% of the daily physical activities of students. The reason for these findings could be because students have most of their physical activities during leisure time in school hours as opposed to organized sports.

After-school sports services surprisingly contribute a small percentage to student activity and health benefits because a significant amount of the time allocated for sports is spent on sports practice preparations. The students that do not engage in school sports activities also spend a significant amount of time engaging in other physical activities.

A significant number of students ride bikes to and from school while others walk to school. Also, there is the time spent walking within the school premises when going in and out of classes. All these constitute physical exercise.

How the study was conducted

The study evaluated 212 girls and 148 girls that volunteered from 18 Victorian high schools. The students had to give a record of their sports activities including the sports teams that they were in and the type of sports they played. They also reported any physical activities that they engaged in.

The participants were also required to wear an accelerometer for eight days so that their movements would be recorded. The mean age of the participants was 15.3 and the findings of the study indicate that they spent an average of 27 minutes daily on moderate to vigorous activities.

The data and findings from the study are not only important for determining the impact of sports activities on the general health and performance of student but also when making government spending decisions. The government spent a significant amount of revenue in high school sports over the past 3 decades. However, those sports programs do not benefit all the students and it is important to find out how to better improve the situation.