Youth and middle age sports participation

[Guest guest]

A study with somewhat surprising (and not surprising) conclusions --

sports participation in midlife is linked more to socioeconomic

factors than to youth sports participation.

Lars-Magnus Engstroumlm. Who is physically active? Cultural capital

and sports participation from adolescence to middle age—a 38-year

follow-up study. Physical Education & Sport Pedagogy, Volume 13, Issue

4 October 2008 , pages 319 - 343

Abstract

Background: Many studies have found that there is a low-to-moderate

association between exercise during adolescence and exercise habits in

adulthood. A question that arises from these earlier studies, with a

follow-up period of about five to 20 years, is how children's and

adolescents' physical activity affects their inclination to exercise

later in life, after the age of 50, e.g. after a follow-up period of

almost 40 years.

Purpose: The main objective of this study is to illustrate whether,

and in that case how, differences in sports experiences during

childhood and adolescence and differences in cultural capital are

reflected in exercise habits in middle age. The analysis takes its

starting point in Pierre Bourdieu's conceptual framework. The specific

research questions are as follows. (1) How does sport habitus formed

during childhood, in physical education lessons at school and through

leisure time sports during leisure time, relate to exercise habits in

middle age? (2) How does the cultural capital acquired during

childhood, expressed in social position and success at school, relate

to exercise habits in middle age? (3) How do sport habitus and

cultural capital assign in childhood relate to exercise habits in

middle age if, at the same time, the influence of the individual's

level of education is controlled for?

Research, design and data collection: The individuals included in this

follow-up study were first contacted in 1968 when they were 15 years

old. I then contacted 91 randomly selected school classes in Year 8

from four counties in Sweden. Follow-up contact and information

gathering were conducted on six additional occasions, primarily via

questionnaires sent by post. In 2007 the highest possible number of

responses was 1979. A total of 1518 responses were received, which

corresponds to 77% of the total reachable group.

Findings: Neither membership of a sports club nor the amount of time

spent on sports activities at the age of 15 had any significant

association with the exercise habits displayed in middle age when the

individual's breadth of sport experience was used as a simultaneous

control. Sporting breadth was significantly related to later exercise

habits, however. As indicators of sport habitus, both the breadth of

sport experience during leisure time and grades in physical education

had a significant association with later exercise habits. There was

also an almost five times greater chance that an individual with a

very high cultural capital at the age of 15, as defined by their

social background and grades in theoretical subjects, was still an

active exerciser 38 years later in comparison with an individual with

a very low culture capital.

Conclusions: A middle-aged individual's level of exercise is closely

linked to that person's social position and, accordingly, to his or

her educational capital. The children and adolescents with the

greatest chance of achieving this middle-class position were those

from backgrounds with a relatively high social positions and/or high

grades in school. If they had a strong sport habitus as well, their

inclination to exercise was strengthened.

Krista

Toronto, ON

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Krista -Dixon, PhD

Editor-in-Chief, Spezzatino

Research Director, Healthy Food Bank

www.spezzatino.com

www.healthyfoodbank.com

krista@...

x707

[Guest guest]

> The children and adolescents with the

> greatest chance of achieving this middle-class position were those

> from backgrounds with a relatively high social positions and/or high

> grades in school. If they had a strong sport habitus as well, their

> inclination to exercise was strengthened.

******

Greetings Krista,

I believe I have mentioned I had the overwhelming privilege and

responsibility of teaching elementary PE, the single most important

class in elementary school. When asked by principals’ and parents what

my class goals were I always told them to create a positive contiguous

association with physical activity (not exercise). And more

importantly I taught to the lower 1/3 of the class.

If you think it is easy coming up with activities that create a

positive contiguous association with physical activity for over

weight, physically terrified kids at the lower levels of INATE " talent

-- you might reconsider. Whether or not it carried over into adult

hood as exercise I don’t know - but I think the approach was sound.

Jerry Telle

Lakewood CO USA