Exercise Science in High School Biology Textbooks

Abstract

The content of high school textbooks related to physical activity and exercise is of utmost importance because physical activity and exercise are considered important tools in maintaining and improving health. Our objective was to analyze the presence and quality of exercise science content in high school biology textbooks approved by the National Textbook Plan. A guiding document was developed to enable the analysis of the textbooks. The topics investigated were: I) the extent of content related to exercise science; II) misconceptions about exercise science; III) health benefits attributed to exercise. The academic qualifications of the textbook authors were also analyzed. All analyzed textbooks (n = 9) featured some degree of exercise science content. In addition, ~67% of textbooks analyzed had at least one misconception regarding exercise science, the most common being related to biochemistry and muscle physiology. Also, 93.8% of the authors had undergraduate degrees in biological sciences; 43.8% had doctoral degrees. In conclusion, all high school biology textbooks presented content related to exercise science; however, most of them presented at least one misconception regarding exercise science. Thus, we suggest that the Brazilian National Textbook Plan should improve the criteria for analyzing biology textbooks. Level of Evidence III; Economic and decision analyses - Development of an economic or decision model.