Peer-reviewed article
Child participation in sports is influenced by patterns of lifestyle‐related behaviors
Daniela Rodrigues, Cristina Maria Proença Padez, Aristides M. Machado‐Rodrigues ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined what family and child characteristics influence whether children aged 6 to 10 participate in sports. Researchers surveyed 834 families and identified seven patterns of behaviors and circumstances. The study found that socio-economic status, child obesity, screen time, parental physical activity, and family barriers were significantly associated with how many sports children participated in and how often they played.
Key points
- Seven distinct patterns were identified: socio-economic status, child obesity, parental TV viewing, father's physical activity, mother's physical activity, child screen time, and parental barriers
- Lower socio-economic status and greater parental reported barriers were most strongly associated with reduced sports participation
- Child obesity was significantly associated with reduced number and frequency of sports participation
- Both mother's and father's physical activity levels influenced child sports participation
- The authors recommend targeting interventions to families with multiple risk factors including low socio-economic status, inactive parents, and obese children
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study that identifies associations but cannot establish causation; the data come only from parent reports and one time point, so it cannot explain how these patterns develop or change over time.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of child and family characteristics and behaviors, and to determine the association of those patterns with child participation in sports. METHODS: A questionnaire and anthropometric measures were used to collect data on 834 parents and their 6- to 10-year-old children. A principal component analysis identified child and parental patterns, which were tested for association with child participation in extracurricular sports (ES). RESULTS: Seven patterns were identified: (1) socio-economic, (2) child obesity, (3) parental TV viewing, (4) father's physical activity (PA), (5) mother's PA, (6) child screen time, and (7) parental reported barriers. After adjustment, patterns 1 and 7 (P < .001), pattern 2 (P = .01), and patterns 5 and 6 (P = .04) were significantly associated with the number of sports practiced by children while, patterns 1 and 7 (P < .001), pattern 2 (P = .03), and patterns 4 and 5 (P = .01) were significantly associated with frequency of participation in ES. CONCLUSION: Future interventions to promote children's participation in sports should be based on a socio-ecological model and targeted to high-risk populations showing multiple risks such as a lower socio-economic status, inactive parents, or obese children.