Sports team participation accounts for part of students’ physical activity association

A nationally representative survey of 8,981 undergraduates in Taiwan found that 28.6% met the country’s criterion for regular physical activity in 2023. Students with higher perceived physical literacy were more likely to meet that criterion and to participate in sports teams. Statistical modeling indicated that sports team participation accounted for part of the association between physical literacy and regular activity, with a standardized indirect association of 0.25 (95% confidence interval, 0.22–0.30). Because the study was observational, its results do not show that physical literacy or joining a sports team caused students to be more active.

The analysis used the Student Sports Participation Survey, administered by Taiwan’s Sports Administration under the Ministry of Education. Researchers examined the 2023 survey and compared it with 2020 data collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived physical literacy was measured with the ministry’s standardized self-report scale, adapted from a validated instrument. The measured concept included students’ motivation, confidence, and health-related understanding of physical activity. Sports team participation and regular physical activity were assessed with standardized survey items, and structural equation modeling was used to estimate direct and indirect associations among the three variables.

For the study’s primary measure, regular physical activity required at least three sessions each week, with each session lasting 30 minutes or more at an intensity that induced sweating and breathlessness. The researchers also conducted a sensitivity analysis using a World Health Organization-aligned threshold of at least 150 minutes per week. The findings remained robust under that alternative definition. Tests of configural, metric, and scalar measurement invariance supported the comparability of the study measures across the 2020 and 2023 periods, strengthening the basis for comparing the associations between survey years.

The indirect association between perceived physical literacy and regular physical activity through sports team participation was weaker in 2020 than in 2023. The study’s authors suggest that the contribution of structured participation may depend on the availability of opportunities to participate, including during a period when organized sport was likely more limited. That interpretation remains tentative because the survey did not measure relevant contextual variables. As a result, the findings cannot attribute the difference between years specifically to pandemic restrictions or establish how the surrounding environment changed these relationships. The comparison instead identifies a year-to-year difference in the strength of a modeled association within one national setting.

Taken together, the results support a connection among perceived physical literacy, sports team participation, and regular physical activity among Taiwanese university students. Higher physical literacy was associated with greater activity, and team membership statistically accounted for part of that relationship in the structural model. The study does not establish the direction of causation, and its observational design cannot determine whether students with more physical literacy joined teams more often, whether team participation encouraged activity, or whether other factors influenced both. The authors propose that universities could pair physical-literacy development with low-barrier opportunities for structured participation, but that policy direction would require evidence beyond the associations demonstrated in this survey.

Subject of Research: Associations among physical literacy, sports team participation, and physical activity in Taiwanese university students

Article Title: Perceived physical literacy, sports team participation, and regular physical activity among university students: a national survey study

Article References: Huang, C.-C., Cheng, Z.-Y., Wang, H.-Y., Yang, Y.-J., Lin, L.-H., Chung, F.-I., & Hsu, C.-T. (2026). Perceived physical literacy, sports team participation, and regular physical activity among university students: a national survey study. BMC Public Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28535-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12889-026-28535-2

Keywords: physical literacy, physical activity, university students, sports teams, Taiwan, national survey, structural equation modeling, young adults, public health, COVID-19 comparison, Perceived, physical