The study examined whether regional differences in physical education (PE) allocation influence adolescent health in Romania. Using data from all 42 counties, we compared weekly PE minutes with two outcomes: prevalence of obesity and participation in daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Counties reported an average of 92.5 minutes of PE per week, with a wide range from 60 to 150 minutes. Adolescent obesity prevalence varied from 9.0% to 24.5%, while MVPA rates ranged from 34.0% to 68.2%. Correlation analysis revealed that higher PE time was moderately associated with lower obesity (r = –0.38, p = .015) and higher MVPA (r = 0.44, p = .006). Multivariate regression confirmed that every additional 10 minutes of weekly PE corresponded to a 0.7 percentage point decrease in obesity prevalence and a 0.9 percentage point increase in MVPA, independent of household income and urbanization. Counties with the lowest PE allocation consistently showed the worst health indicators, highlighting regional inequities.These findings demonstrate that PE policy functions as a significant predictor of adolescent health at population level. Establishing a nationwide minimum of 150 minutes per week, coupled with resource investments in disadvantaged regions, could reduce obesity, promote active lifestyles, and close rural–urban gaps. Physical education should be recognized not only as a curricular requirement but also as a strategic public health intervention with measurable benefits for national well-being.
Hangu et al. (Tue,) studied this question.