Wearing a uniform to attend school can be convenient for parents because this way they do not have to choose what clothes their children are going to wear every day, and it helps prevent differences in purchasing power from becoming evident when schoolchildren go to school. of families with unequal economic levels. However, it is not all advantages, since a new study has found that wearing a school uniform could have a negative effect on the physical activity of minors, and especially girls.
The research has been carried out by the University of Cambridge, who used data on the physical exercise carried out by more than one million young people between five and 17 years old internationally and verified that in countries where the majority of schools require that students wear uniforms, the fewer young people tend to perform the average of 60 minutes of daily physical activity recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Regardless of uniform regulations, in most countries fewer girls than boys achieved recommended exercise levels. However, among primary school students, the difference in activity between girls and boys was found to be greatest in countries where most schools required uniforms. The same result was not found in high school-age students.
The authors suggest that this could be explained by the fact that younger children develop more physical activity during the school day than older students because during recess they participate in games that involve running, climbing, and other types of movements. For girls, there is already evidence that they feel less comfortable participating in active play if they wear certain types of clothing, such as skirts or dresses.
The results of the work have been published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science, and its authors acknowledge that they do not constitute definitive proof that school uniforms limit children’s physical activity and that “causality cannot be inferred.” “We are not trying to suggest an outright ban on them, but rather present new evidence to support decision-making. “School communities could consider the design and whether specific features of a uniform could encourage or restrict opportunities for physical activity during the day,” said Dr Mairead Ryan, researcher at the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit and the Faculty of Education (MRC) at the University of Cambridge and director of the study.
Relationship between school uniforms and lower activity levels
The study confirms previous observations that have shown that the majority of children and adolescents do not meet the WHO physical activity recommendation, especially girls. The difference in the percentage of boys and girls meeting physical activity guidelines across countries was, on average, 7.6 percentage points.
Children usually do physical exercise outside of school. “Activities like walking or biking to school, recess games, and outdoor games after school can help young people incorporate physical activity into their daily routines,” Ryan said. “That is why we are interested in knowing the extent to which various elements of young people’s environment, including the clothes they wear, encourage such behaviors.”
The study analyzed data on the physical activity levels of nearly 1.1 million young people aged five to 17 in 135 countries and combined it with recently collected data on the use of school uniforms in these countries. In more than 75% of the countries surveyed, most schools required their students to wear uniforms, and researchers found that participation in physical activity was lower in these countries.
“Girls may feel less confident doing things like cartwheels on the playground, or riding a bike on a windy day, if they wear a skirt or dress.”
The average proportion of all students who met WHO recommendations in countries where wearing a uniform was the norm was 16%; this increased to 19.5% in countries where uniforms were less common. There was a consistent gender gap between boys’ and girls’ physical activity levels, with boys being 1.5 times more likely to meet WHO recommendations at all ages. However, the gap widened from 5.5 percentage points in primary school in countries without uniforms to a difference of 9.8 percentage points in countries where uniforms were required in most schools.
The finding appears to be consistent with evidence from other studies suggesting that girls are more conscious about engaging in physical activity when they wear uniforms in which they do not feel comfortable. “Girls may feel less confident doing things like cartwheels on the playground, or riding a bike on a windy day, if they wear a skirt or dress,” said Dr Esther van Sluijs, MRC researcher and lead author. “Social norms and expectations tend to influence what they feel they can do in these clothes. Unfortunately, when it comes to promoting physical health, that is a problem.”
In the opinion of the study authors, these findings justify further investigation into whether there is a causal relationship between school uniforms and lower activity levels. They also highlight the importance of regular physical activity for all young people, regardless of gender.
“Regular physical activity helps meet multiple physical, mental and wellness needs and influences academic outcomes,” said Dr. Ryan. “We now need more information to build on these findings, considering factors such as how long students wear their uniforms after school, whether this varies by their background, and how broader gender dress norms may affect their activity,” the study concludes. researcher.
Damián Iglesias Gallego, professor of Physical Education at the Faculty of Teacher Training at the University of Extremadura, who has not participated in this study, has declared to SMC Spain that “adding daily minutes of physical activity is synonymous with health and well-being.” , and the new research suggests that “wearing a school uniform could be affecting physical activity levels, both during the school day (break times, lunch) and outside of it (travel to the school, extracurricular play time).”
For this reason, the expert considers that “although with caution, given that the results do not indicate cause-effect, these data invite debate on the relevance of wearing (or not) a school uniform, when analyzing this type of clothing from a movement perspective.” and health”.
