University sports programs as a health promoting setting contribute to physical activity recommendations with differences across sport categories and gender at Heidelberg University, Germany

Abstract Purpose Insufficient physical activity remains a major public health concern among young adults and many university students fail to meet recommended activity levels. This study aimed to quantify the contributions of university sports programs to achieving physical activity recommendations and to examine differences according to sport categories and gender among university students. Methods A total of 593 students from Heidelberg University participated (mean age = 23.44 years, SD = 4.66), with valid step count data from 531 and MET data from 513 participants. Physical activity was objectively measured during sports sessions using a multi-sensor device. The university sports programs, which largely follow a traditional classification by type of sport, were divided into six categories. Descriptive statistics were used to assess contributions to daily physical activity benchmarks, and two-way ANOVAs examined main effects of sport category and gender on step counts and MET as well as interaction effects. Results On average, participants accumulated 3134 steps (SD = 1303) per session, corresponding to approximately 44.77% of a 7000-step benchmark. Mean activity intensity was 3.58 MET (SD = 1.07), indicating predominantly moderate-intensity activity. Sport category showed significant effects on both step counts (ηp² = 0.26) and MET (ηp² = 0.18), with team sports associated with the highest values. Gender differences were small but significant for MET (η² = 0.01), with higher values observed in male participants, while no main effect was found for step counts. Significant interaction effects indicated that gender differences varied by sport category. Conclusion University sports programs contribute substantially to students’ physical activity through both step accumulation and moderate-intensity exercise. Their effectiveness varies by sport category, with team sports showing the highest activity levels. Gender differences were small and context-dependent, suggesting that activity levels are shaped by interactions between individual and activity-specific factors. These findings highlight the role of university sports as a key component of health-promoting university settings and emphasize the need for accessible opportunities that support broad student participation in regular physical activity.