The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on June 16, 2007
The European Journal of Public Health 2008 18(1):25-30; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckm049
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Associations between sport participation, demographic and socio-cultural factors in Portuguese children and adolescents
André F. Seabra1, Denisa M. Mendonça2, Martine A. Thomis3, Tim J. Peters4 and José A. Maia1
1 Faculty of Sports, University of Porto. Porto, Portugal.
2 Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, ICBAS, University of Porto. Porto, Portugal.
3 Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education, Department of Biomedical Kinesiology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Leuven, Belgium.
4 Department of Community Based Medicine, University of Bristol. Bristol, UK.
Correspondence: André Filipe Teixeira e Seabra, Laboratório de Cineantropometria, Faculdade de Desporto - Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Plácido Costa, 91, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal. tel: 00351225074789; fax: 00351225500689; e-mail: aseabra{at}fcdef.up.pt
Received January 12, 2007 , accepted April 18, 2007
Background: The number of studies that focus on factors influencing the sport participation (SP) of children and adolescents is limited. The present study examines the associations between demographic [age, gender and socio-economic status (SES)] and socio-cultural factors (SP of family, and peers and physical educator influences) and the SP of children and adolescents. Methods: A random sample of 3352 Portuguese children/adolescents, 10–18 years, their parents and siblings was surveyed. The assessment of SP was based on a psychometrically established questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was used in data analysis. Results: (i) age was not related to children/adolescent's SP; (ii) children/adolescents with high SES (OR:1.7, 95%CI:1.4–2.2) and medium SES (OR:1.4, 95%CI:1.1–1.7) were more involved in sports; (iii) children/adolescents were more likely to participate in sports when their family also participate; (iv) boys were more likely to participate in sports than girls (adjusted OR:3.3, 95%CI:2.8–3.9 from a main effects model), but mother's SP influenced their daughters and sons differently. Daughters showed a greater propensity for practising sports when their mothers did (OR:2.5; 95%CI:1.7–3.6). For sons, sports involvement was similar whether or not their mothers participated (OR:1.1; 95%CI:0.7–1.7); (v) peers had a positive influence on the participants’ SP (OR:2.2, 95%CI:1.9–2.7); (vi) after adjusting for other factors, the influence of a physical education teacher was not found to affect the SP of the children/adolescents. Conclusion: There are important demographic and socio-cultural influences on the SP of children/adolescents—in particular, gender, SES, family members’ SP and peer influence.
Keywords: adolescents, children, demographic, socio-cultural, sport participation