{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T00:35:55Z","timestamp":1772757355116,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,2]],"date-time":"2020-08-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1596326400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Given the need for comparative research on the participation of adolescents in physical education (PE) classes as a privileged space for physical activity (PA) promotion, this study sought to estimate, analyse and compare the prevalence of participation in PE classes among adolescents from 54 countries and to examine sex, age, country income and world regions disparities. Data from the Global Students Health Survey (2010\u20132015) were used, comprising 170,347 adolescents (90,305 girls, aged 13\u201317 years) from nationally representative samples of 54 countries\u2014of which 7 are low-income, 23 lower-middle-income, 14 upper-middle-income and 10 high-income\u2014and six world regions. The weighted percentages of adolescents participating in PE classes (never, 1\u20132 days\/week, 3\u20134 days\/week, 5 or more days\/week) were estimated along 95% confidence intervals and compared across sex, age, country income, region, and country. Most adolescents reported to participate in PE on 1\u20132 days\/week (55.2%), but almost 20% of adolescents reported never participating in PE. Girls, compared to boys, presented a lower prevalence for participating \u22655 days\/week (girls 16.8%, boys 20.0%). The prevalence of participating in PE on \u22653 days\/week was higher among adolescents aged 13\u201314 years when compared to adolescents aged 15\u201317 years (boys: 30.9% vs. 24.6%; girls: 26.1% vs. 18.2%). Concerning the countries\u2019 income, the prevalence of never participating in PE was higher in high-income countries, and participating on \u22653 days\/week was higher in low-income countries, but further research is recommended. The findings suggest that national, regional and worldwide data highlight the importance of improving participation in PE, particularly for girls and older adolescents. An improved and continued monitoring of PE policies and their actual implementation is needed worldwide.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17155579","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,3]],"date-time":"2020-08-03T06:16:47Z","timestamp":1596435407000},"page":"5579","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["A Comparative Study of Participation in Physical Education Classes among 170,347 Adolescents from 54 Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2540-6678","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Martins","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte y la Educaci\u00f3n F\u00edsica, Universidad de A Coru\u00f1a, 15001 A Coru\u00f1a, Spain"},{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Pedagogia, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana e UIDEF, Instituto de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"ISAMB, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9850-7771","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adilson","family":"Marques","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ISAMB, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6072-6012","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Peralta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ISAMB, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"},{"name":"CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3780-6545","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Duarte","family":"Henriques-Neto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3623-6715","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o","family":"Costa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Sports Studies and Physical Education Programme, School of Education, University College Cork, T12 YN60 Cork, Ireland"}]},{"given":"Marcos","family":"Onofre","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Pedagogia, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana e UIDEF, Instituto de Educa\u00e7\u00e3o, Universidade de Lisboa, 1649-004 Lisboa, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3993-8069","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Gonz\u00e1lez Valeiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte y la Educaci\u00f3n F\u00edsica, Universidad de A Coru\u00f1a, 15001 A Coru\u00f1a, Spain"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,8,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"23","article-title":"Global trends in insufficient physical activity among adolescents: A pooled analysis of 298 population-based surveys with 1\u00b76 million participants","volume":"4","author":"Guthold","year":"2019","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"CDC (2019). 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