AUTHOR=Wu Yu-Tai , Wu Yu-Feng , Ye Jian-Hong , Nong Weiguaju , Ye Jhen-Ni 

TITLE=An examination of online physical education participation and its effects on health promotion

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1612710

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2025.1612710

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=IntroductionThe COVID-19 epidemic significantly impacted global education patterns. To protect the health of students, many countries and regions implemented online curricula during the peak of the epidemic, allowing teaching to continue despite the suspension of classes. However, whether all subjects, such as physical education (PE), can be effectively learned online is worth exploring.MethodsTo achieve the objective of this study, junior high school students in China were invited to fill out an online questionnaire via a snowball sampling method. The retrieved data were validated for reliability and validity, and the three types of online course engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) were validated through a structural equation model to explore the effects on physiological and psychological health promotion.ResultsThe results showed that not all types of online course engagement positively impacted physiological and psychological health promotion. Specifically, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagements were shown to positively influence students’ perceived physiological health. While emotional and cognitive engagements were also shown to positively influence perceived psychological health, behavioral engagement did not significantly impact psychological health promotion. In addition, the analysis of the quality of online PE courses identified five main influencing factors: (1) lack of learning based on real experiences, (2) insufficient peer interaction, (3) environmental interference, (4) poor internet connection, and (5) poor learning uptake.DiscussionThe findings showed how students’ physical and mental health is promoted through behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement in the context of online physical education courses. At the same time, the major confounding factors identified will help physical education teachers to remove these influences and make them better at delivering online physical education programs.