Physical Activity Promotion on Private School Websites: The Case of Maryland

Abstract

Purpose: Content analysis of school websites may reveal the degree to which schools value physical education (PE) and physical activity (PA). We used the approach to quantify Maryland’s private school websites’ PE/PA content and associations with school characteristics. Method: The analytic sample (n = 387) was examined for mention of PE-/PA-related content (e.g., curriculum, dosage, intramurals). Associations between content and school characteristics (e.g., grade levels offered, religious orientation) were examined using Pearson’s chi-squared test. Results: PE (∼75% of school websites) was mentioned most frequently, and PA images and PE curriculum (∼30% each) were mentioned least frequently. Elementary and Catholic school websites were proportionately less and more likely, respectively, to mention various PE/PA content. Discussion/Conclusion: Representation of PE/PA content among Maryland’s private schools surpassed that found in previous studies. Nonetheless, relative omission of some content may allude to PE/PA being less valued compared with other academic subjects. Follow-up with stakeholders may help elucidate factors that influence content gatekeeping.