Recent trends in participation in physical education among US high school students

To examine recent trends in physical education (PE) enrollment, daily atten dance in PE, and being physically active in PE among high school students i n the United States, this study analyzed data from the 1991, 1993, 1995, an d 1997 national school-based Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (n=55,734. Logisti c regression analyses were conducted to test for significant linear time tr ends among the total student population and demographic subgroups (gender, race/ethnicity, and grade). Although PE enrollment in the total student pop ulation did not change from 1991 (48.9%) to 1997 (48.8%), the prevalence of students who attended PE enrollment in the the prevalence of students who were physically active > 20 minutes in an average PE class both decreased s ignificantly among nearly all demographic subgroups. The prevalence of stud ents who were physically active > 20 minutes in daily PE classes decreased from 34.2% in 1991 to 21.7% in 1997 (p <0.001). To reverse current trends, high schools should implement daily PE classes that emphasize participation in lifelong health-related physical activity for all students.