Physical Education and Physical Activity in Elementary Schools in Flanders

Schools are the primary societal institution with responsibility for promoting physical activity in youth. Physical education (PE) classes, physical activity outside PE classes and information to parents and other educational team members can contribute to the development of an active lifestyle. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate how adequately elementary schools in Flanders are filing the physical activity promoting role recently emphasised. According to reports of a representative sample of 78 elementary PE teachers, PE in Flanders is led mostly by specialised, moderately well to well equipped teachers. However limited PE time, limited promotion of physical activity outside PE and poor parent involvement may result in pupils not reaching the daily physical activity requirement of 1 hour and in not maintaining an active lifestyle into adulthood. Since a health‐related PE curriculum can provide pupils with substantially more physical activity and since teachers reported receptiveness to such a programme, its implementation in Flanders needs to be considered. Notes Greet Cordon and Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij are at Ghent University, Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent, Belgium Additional informationNotes on contributorsIlse MM De BourdeaudhuijFootnote 1 Greet Cordon and Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij are at Ghent University, Department of Movement and Sports Sciences, Ghent, Belgium