Barriers to implementation of physical activity in Danish public schools

Abstract
In 2014, the Danish Government initiated a new public-school reform. A distinctive feature of the reform was incorporation of 45 minutes physical activity in the regular school day. The purpose of the present study was to explore school staff´s perceived barriers to implementation of the legislation on daily physical activity. The socio-ecological model was used as a theoretical framework.
A mixed methods approach using questionnaire and semi-structured interviews was conducted to get a broader understanding of school staff´s perceived barriers to implementation of physical activity into regular class teaching. A total of 213 teachers and pedagogues from 31 schools completed the ques-tionnaire and 11 key informants from 11 different schools were selected for participation in semi-structured interviews. Descriptive statistics were used for the quantitative data whereas a pen profile analysis was used for the qualitative analysis.
Based on the questionnaire 15 different barriers were identified: five individual barriers, three social barriers, three physical barriers, and four organizational barriers. The most frequently barriers reported in both the questionnaire and the interviews were: lack of inspiration, lack of student motivation, cha-os and noise, facilities for physical activity and lack of time.
This study theoretically identified the barriers impacting the implementation of daily physical activity as a demand of a public-school reform. These findings provide guidance to policy makers, practition-ers and school administrators in designing future studies to support implementation of similar school policies to promote physical activity.