Perceived physical literacy, sports team participation, and regular physical activity among university students: a national survey study

Insufficient physical activity in young adults is a persistent global public health concern, associated with noncommunicable disease and poorer mental health. University students are a critical life-course group whose activity is shaped by individual capacities and institutional environments. Physical literacy, spanning motivation, confidence, and health-related understanding, may support activity, but evidence from large university populations is limited. We examined whether perceived physical literacy was associated with regular physical activity, and whether sports team participation statistically accounted for part of this association. We analyzed the Student Sports Participation Survey, a nationally representative survey administered by the Sports Administration, Ministry of Education, Taiwan. The analytic sample comprised 8,981 undergraduates surveyed in 2023; 2020 data were analyzed for comparison during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived physical literacy was measured with the Ministry’s standardized self-report scale, adapted from a validated instrument; sports team participation and regular physical activity used standardized survey items. Regular physical activity followed the Ministry standard, at least three weekly sessions of 30 min or longer at an intensity inducing sweating and breathlessness; a WHO-aligned threshold (≥ 150 min/week) was examined in sensitivity analysis. Structural equation modeling tested direct and indirect associations. 28.6% of students met the regular-activity criterion. Higher perceived physical literacy was associated with greater regular physical activity and with sports team participation, which in turn statistically accounted for part of the perceived physical literacy and activity association (standardized indirect β = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.22–0.30). This indirect association was weaker in the 2020 sample than in 2023. Findings were robust to a WHO-aligned threshold and supported by full measurement invariance (configural, metric, scalar) across periods. Among university students, perceived physical literacy was positively associated with regular physical activity, with sports team participation accounting for part of this association. The weaker 2020 association, when opportunities for organized sport were likely more limited, suggests that the contribution of structured participation may depend on opportunity availability; because contextual variables were not measured, it cannot be attributed to pandemic restrictions. Universities could pair physical-literacy development with low-barrier, structured participation opportunities to support regular physical activity.