Pupils’ Whole-School Physical Activity Behavior Reconsidered: A Descriptive Case-Study of Real-World Practices

Examples of sustained whole-school approaches (WSA) to physical activity (PA) from real-world school practice can broaden our understanding of how much in-school PA can be expected in such approaches. This study aimed to describe PA opportunities provided within a WSA, and the correspondent PA behavior in pupils. Pupils from 2nd, 7th, and 9th grade (<i>n</i> = 57, 47.7% girls) from two case schools with an embedded WSA were recruited. Schools were located in the southeastern part of Norway. Pupils wore waist-worn accelerometers for 10 consecutive school days. Weekly schedules and descriptive field notes was used to describe PA opportunities, and conversations with teachers ensured valid data. Various PA opportunities were conducted daily. Organized PA was conducted in recess every day, physical education was led by qualified teachers in 1-2 lessons pr. week, and physically active learning was used as a teaching method 3-6 times pr. week. On average, 23.4 ± 9.7 min of school days was spent in moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA), with differences among classes (26.2 ± 6.7, 31.5 ± 10.7, and 17.5 ± 6.6 min in 2nd, 7th, and 9th grade, respectively). On average, 22.8% of pupils reached 30 minutes of daily in-school MVPA. Case schools had seven years of experience in conducting a WSA with several PA opportunities. Despite this extensive work, only ⁓23% of pupils reached recommended amounts of in-school MVPA. This descriptive case study provides a reality check on WSA in school and its impact on children's MVPA behavior, and revealing what they look like in practice, not only in theory.