Two thirds of youth participate in insufficient physical activity to meet current WHO guidelines. The social factors associated with this public health problem have only begun to be explored. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to use a social-ecological framework to identify selected individual, social, and environmental factors associated with physical activity (PA) in a sample of 9-year old Irish children.
Method:
Data was obtained from the first wave of the “Growing Up in Ireland” study of 9-year old children. The sample consisted of 1509 children (55% female). The child’s primary caregiver was asked, “How many days in the past 2 weeks did the child participate in hard activity”. Independent variables hypothesized to be related to youth PA were reported by either the child’s teacher or caregiver. Variables included individual factors (child’s height and weight, screen time, emotional well-being, parental education), social factors (number of close friends, time spent with friends, victim of bullying, peer popularity, level of sociability), and environmental factors (availability of fitness clubs, neighborhood safety, parks and playgrounds nearby, importance of sports and physical education at school). A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted stratified by gender to determine associations between these independent variables and youth PA.
Analysis/Results:
Boys had a significantly higher level of PA than girls (p<0.0001). For both genders, the presence of fitness clubs (p<0.0001), spending time with friends (p<0.0001), the number of close friends (p=0.02), and higher levels of sociability (p=.04) were positively correlated with PA, while screen time was negatively correlated with PA (p<0.0001). For boys, having a playground nearby (p=0.005), and being rated as popular (p=0.001) were also associated with PA. For girls, the importance of physical education and sports in school (p=0.04) and involvement in community organizations (p=0.01) were also positively associated with PA. The final models accounted for 17% and 14% of the variance in PA among boys and girls, respectively, with the social-level variables accounting for the majority of the variance in PA.
Conclusions:
Social factors were particularly influential for both boys' and girls’ PA, with additional variance in PA explained by environmental factors. These data emphasize further the complexity of youth PA behavior and the importance of considering variables from all levels of the social-ecological model when attempting to understand and intervene on youth PA.