Elsevier

Preventive Medicine

Volume 42, Issue 4, April 2006, Pages 254-260
Preventive Medicine

Correlates of physical activity in a national sample of children aged 9–13 years

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2006.01.010Get rights and content

Abstract

Background.

Physical activity (PA) is critical for children's normal growth and development. The purpose of this study was to assess potential correlates of physical activity in a US national sample of youth aged 9–13 years.

Methods.

A nationally representative telephone survey of parent–child pairs was conducted from April through June 2002. The questions assessed organized and free-time physical activity behavior and psychosocial and environmental variables that are potentially related to youth physical activity.

Results.

Children's positive outcome expectations or beliefs about the benefits of participating in physical activity and parent's beliefs that participating in physical activity is important were related to participation in both organized and free-time physical activity. Children's perception of parental support and parent's reports of direct support were strongly related to organized physical activity. Feeling safe, having lots of places to be active, and parental participation with their child were strongly related to free-time physical activity.

Conclusions.

Messages and interventions aiming to increase children and adolescent's participation in organized and free-time physical activity should continue to focus on promoting the benefits that are associated with being active, the importance of parental support, and the provision of safe and enjoyable opportunities to be active.

Introduction

Physical inactivity is a well-established risk factor for several chronic diseases. Given that physical activity (PA) habits developed early in life may continue into adulthood (Telama et al., 2005), regular participation in PA during childhood and adolescence may be of critical importance in the prevention of chronic disease later in life. Pre-adolescence and adolescence are an essential period in which to intervene, encouraging ongoing participation in both free-time play and in more organized or structured sports and activities.

Understanding the factors that influence PA behavior is important in the design of interventions and messages targeted at youth. The literature identifies demographic, psychological, social, and environmental factors (i.e., correlates) that may influence a young person's level of PA (Kohl and Hobbs, 1998, Sallis et al., 1999a, Sallis et al., 2000, Strauss et al., 2001, USDHHS, 1996). Previous studies have identified perceived benefits (Kimiecik et al., 1996, Trost et al., 1999), perceived physical competence (Epstein et al., 1996), intention to engage in PA (Sallis et al., 1999b), barriers to participation in PA, parental support (Sallis et al., 1992), parental participation in PA with their child (Hovell et al., 1996, Sallis et al., 1992), support from significant others (Reynolds et al., 1990), program/facility access, opportunities to be active, and time spent outdoors (Sallis et al., 1993) as factors that are associated with PA behavior. However, to our knowledge, there has only been one national study (Sallis et al., 1999a) of the pre-adolescent age group that explores the potential correlates of participation in PA. In addition, while other studies have explored correlates of moderate-intensity and vigorous-intensity PA separately, none have explored to what extent potential correlates are similar or different for PA engaged in one's free-time versus organized PA, such as sports lessons or teams. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate potential psychosocial and environmental correlates of both organized and free-time PA in a nationally representative sample of youth aged 9–13 years.

Section snippets

Design

The Youth Media Campaign Longitudinal Survey (YMCLS) (Youth Media Campaign, 2004) is a national, random-digit-dial telephone survey of children aged 9–13 years and their parents that was designed for the evaluation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) VERB™ campaign (Wong et al., 2004). Before attempting telephone contact, letters informing potential respondents about the survey were mailed to all of the sampled telephone numbers for which addresses could be obtained.

Results

Descriptive statistics are shown for the weighted population of 9–13-year-old children (Table 2). Thirty-nine percent of the 9–13-year-old children participated in one or more organized PA sessions during the previous 7 days, whereas more than 65% reported participation in three or more sessions of free-time PA.

Discussion

Research on the correlates of PA in youth is valuable to help develop more efficacious PA interventions. The YMCLS allowed us, for the first time, to explore potential child and parent variables that are related to both organized and free-time PA participation among a nationally representative sample of children aged 9–13 years. The present findings extend those of previous reports on psychosocial (Reynolds et al., 1990, Pate et al., 1997, Trost et al., 1999), environmental (Gordon-Larsen et

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    The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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    Contributions to this manuscript were made while employed at Westat, 1650 Research Blvd, Rockville, Maryland 20850.

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