Participation in Physical Education classes in Pernambuco: a temporal trend analysis

The aim of the study was to analyze the temporal trend and factors associated with participation in physical education classes in Pernambuco. The temporal trend study was composed of three surveys. A total of 4,207 students were interviewed in 2006, 6,264 in 2011 and 6,002 in 2016, using the “Global School-based Student Health Survey” (GSHS) questionnaire. The outcome was participation in Physical Education classes and the independent variables were sociodemographic information. The bivariate analysis was performed using the chi-square test and the multivariate analysis using binary logistic regression. There was an increase in the prevalence of participation in Physical Education classes (2006: 35%, 2011: 74% and 2016: 81.2%), highlighting the significant increase in males Δ% (2006-2016) = 123.5%. Male, studying full-time and being the son of mothers who studied was associated with greater participation in physical education classes, as well as living in the regions of Agreste, Sertão and Sertão do São Francisco. Despite the increase in participation in Physical Education classes in Pernambuco, the guarantee of this curricular component must be strengthened, considering risk groups in order to increase participation in classes for these groups.