Support grows for daily sports uniforms in schools

newy.com.au – More than three-quarters of Australians who responded to public coverage of a proposal to let students wear sports uniforms every day at school supported the change, according to new University of Newcastle research published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health.

The study, conducted in partnership with Hunter New England Local Health District’s Population Health, analysed nearly 2,000 public responses and hundreds of community comments about allowing students to wear activity-enabling sports uniforms every day instead of traditional uniforms.

University of Newcastle researcher Ms Belinda Peden, from HMRI’s Population Health Research program, said helping children achieve enough physical activity was important for their physical, social and mental health, and could also improve attention and academic performance.

“Because physical activity patterns established in childhood often track into adulthood, supporting children to be sufficiently active can help prevent chronic disease later in life,” she said.

The World Health Organization recommends children do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day, but global data shows only one third are sufficiently active.

Researchers said traditional school uniforms, which often include dresses or skirts, blouses, button-up shirts and black leather shoes, had been identified as a barrier to students participating in physical activity, particularly girls. Sports uniforms, by contrast, typically consist of shorts, polo shirts and sports shoes and are usually worn only on days with physical education classes or scheduled sport.

“Reviews have found that traditional uniform policies more frequently disadvantage girls, students from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, low-income families, and gender, and sexually diverse students,” Ms Peden said.

The study examined reactions to media coverage of an article first published by The Conversation, titled Four reasons Australian schools should let students wear sports uniforms every day, which was later reported across television, digital, print, radio and social media.

It found 76 per cent of responses supported schools permitting students to wear sports uniforms every day, 22 per cent were opposed and 2 per cent were unclear.

“This is one of the first studies to really look at what the public thinks—and it shows people are more open to flexible school uniforms than many might expect,” Ms Peden said.

“We found strong support for letting kids wear sports uniforms every day, which could make it much easier for schools to help students be more active. It’s a simple, low-cost change that could have a big impact, especially when we know parents, students and teachers are already on board.”

Ms Peden said themes of equity, inclusion and autonomy also emerged strongly in the findings.

“The data showed people felt that letting students wear sports uniforms every day could make a real difference—supporting gender equity and inclusion, giving kids more choice, and simply making them more comfortable. We also know from previous research that strict uniform rules can have the opposite effect, particularly for gender-diverse students, impacting both wellbeing and learning.”

She said the findings could help inform strategies aimed at removing barriers to a simple, scalable way of increasing physical activity at school.

“What this study shows is that the community is ready for change. There’s strong support for more flexible school uniforms, which could help remove a key barrier to getting kids more active. When you combine this with support from parents, students and teachers, it’s a great opportunity to rethink uniform policies in a way that supports wellbeing, inclusion, and equity.”

Professor Luke Wolfenden, editor-in-chief of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, said the research could help resolve debate about community support for more activity-enabling school uniforms.

“This study suggests there is broad community support for school uniforms that support physical activity. Hopefully the findings prompt school principals and committees to focus on health when choosing school clothing. It’s a simple change that has the potential to have a big impact.”