DOI: 10.11118/978-80-7701-025-2-0090

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AND BEHAVIORS IN OUTDOOR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY: PERSPECTIVES OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Stanislav Azor¹, Michal Marko², Štefan Adamčák³, Ľudmila Kuriplachová¹

¹ Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia

² Faculty of Performing Arts, Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

³ Faculty of Sports Science and Health, Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia

Environmental degradation (climate change) continues to endanger ecosystems – making it important to understand how students; in particular, at high schools in Slovakia, view roles (their) in environmental conservation, while participating in outdoor physical activity; therefore, study (our) aims at exploring intersections of environmental awareness and behaviors in outdoor physical activity from the perspectives of high school students. 3-item survey (instrument) was carried out 4 months (September 1 – December 24, 2024), targeting 1619 (100%) students at high schools (45.03% of boys and 54.97% of girls), aged 16.60 ± 1.20 years. 51.14% (828, n) of students believed that environmental awareness in outdoor physical activity is important in terms of environmental conservation (p ˂ 0.01). 67.63% (1095, n) of students reported doing best (their) to leave as little impact on environments as possible by disposing of trash, while participating in outdoor physical activity (p ˂ 0.01). 648 (40.02%) students reported using apps (basic) that help to improve environmental awareness in outdoor physical activity (p ˂ 0.01). Students (≥ 75%) recognize the importance of environmental awareness and adopt behaviors – sustainable, in outdoor physical activity; however, there remains needs for further educational interventions to encourage wider adoption of technology-driven environmental awareness tools. 

Keywords: awareness, behaviors, physical activity, students

pages: 90-93, Published: 2025, online: 2025