The Association between Academic Schedule and Physical Activity Behaviors in University Students

University students sit too much, which is detrimental to their physical and mental health. Academic schedules, including scheduled education time and self-study time, may influence their physical activity behaviors. To investigate (1) the association between scheduled education time and students' physical activity levels during weekdays; (2) the association between self-study time and students' physical activity levels during the weekdays and weekends. 126 (68 Maastricht University (UM); 58 KU Leuven (KUL)) first-year undergraduate students in biomedical sciences (mean ± age: 19.3 ± 1.0, BMI: 22.0 ± 3.0, 17% men, 83% women) completed a demographics questionnaire and reported their academic activities with a 7-day logbook. Furthermore, their physical activity behavior was measured with the activPAL monitor for 7 days. Linear mixed models were used to examine the associations between university (UM versus KUL), academic activities (scheduled education time and self-study time), and students' activity levels. During weekdays, each hour of scheduled education time per day was significantly associated with a 1.3 min decrease of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. Scheduled education time was not significantly associated with the sedentary time, light-intensity physical activity (LPA), and active sedentary behavior ratio. Each hour of self-study per day was significantly associated with 8 min more of sedentary time per day, 6 min less LPA per day, and 1.3 min less MVPA per day. Self-study time was not significantly associated with active sedentary behavior ratio. During the weekend, each hour of self-study time per day was associated with an additional 17.8 min of sedentary time per day and a reduction of 15.2 min of LPA per day. Self-study time was not significantly associated with the time spent doing MVPA and active sedentary behavior ratio. It could be more effective to change students' physical activity behaviors during self-study than during scheduled education time. Therefore, offering a study environment that reduces sedentary behavior and promotes light-intensity physical activity, is crucial.