Abstract: Objective To analyze the current situation of sports literacy among undergraduate medical students (hereinafter referred to as medical undergraduates), to enhance their sports literacy, and to provide references for improvement measures. Methods In March 2023, 98 undergraduate students from a medical college in Beijing were randomly selected as the research subjects. A self-designed sports literacy questionnaire was used to investigate their sports participation awareness,knowledge and skills. Independent sample t-tests were used to analyze the differences in sports participation awareness, knowledge, and skills between students from different grades and genders. Results The scores for students′ awareness of sports participation, knowledge and skills were (8.50 ± 3.44) points and (7.69 ± 2.54) points, respectively. Female students scored lower in sports participation awareness (6.91 ± 2.70) and knowledge and skills (6.53 ± 2.83) compared to male students, who scored (9.85 ± 3.44) in awareness and (8.40 ± 2.12) in knowledge and skills. Third/fourth-year students scored (7.11 ± 2.57) in sports participation awareness and (6.86 ± 2.53) in knowledge and skills, which were lower than the scores of first/second-year students (9.63 ± 3.66) in sports participation awareness and (8.37 ± 2.37) in knowledge and skills. These differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). Conclusions The scores for students′ awareness of sports participation, knowledge and skills are relatively low, especially among female and third/fourth year students. The promotion of sports literacy for female and third/fourth year students may improve the overall level of sports literacy of undergraduate medical students.

Key words: Sports literacy, Undergraduate medical students, Physical-medical integration, Physical-educational integration, Status survey