Physical activity levels in coeducational and single-gender high school physical education settings

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of coeducational (coed) and single-gender game-play settings on the activity levels of Caucasian and African American high school physical education students. Students participated in flag football, ultimate Frisbee, and soccer units. Classes were as follows: there were two coed classes, two coed classes were split into male and female teams for game play, one class was exclusively female, and one class was exclusively male. Digi-walker pedometers were worn by students to monitor activity levels calculated as steps per minute. High school males, on average, had higher step counts than females in all settings, and Caucasian students were more active, on average, than African American students. There were no differences in activity levels for females between coed and single-gender game-play settings. There was some evidence, however, that in ultimate Frisbee and soccer units, male students in males-only classes were less physically active than were males in coed and split coed classes. Teacher interaction rates and team-sport preferences rather than the gender composition might have contributed to differences in activity levels of the classes.