Tracking the Reorganizations of MVPA Opportunities During the Transition From French Secondary School to University: A Longitudinal Study

The transition from secondary school to university is a critical period often marked by a decline in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). This study explores how MVPA opportunities evolve during this transition. A longitudinal design was used with 84 participants (58 girls, 26 boys) who wore accelerometers and completed daily diaries for seven consecutive days at two time points (T0: final year of secondary school; T1: first year of university). MVPA ratios were calculated overall and across 13 distinct opportunities. Results showed that overall MVPA remained stable between T0 and T1 (6.6% vs. 6.3%). Girls showed lower MVPA ratios than boys (p < .05). At T0, PE lessons, transport, recess and supervised leisure contributed most to MVPA. At T1, MVPA during PE and recess declined, while transport and autonomous leisure gained importance. These results suggest that opportunity structures for MVPA shifted, highlighting the importance of self-directed and transport-related activities in university life.