Children’s Participation in Organized Sport and Physical Activities and Active Free Play: Exploring the Impact of Time, Gender and Neighbourhood Household Income Using Longitudinal Data

John Cairney ; Divya Joshi ^[1] ; Matthew Kwan ; John Hay
1. [1] McMaster University
  
  McMaster University
  
  Canadá
Localización: Sociology of sport journal, ISSN 0741-1235, Vol. 32, Nº. 3, 2015, págs. 266-283
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- This study examines the associations among socioeconomic status (SES), aging, gender and sport and physical activity participation from late childhood into adolescence. Drawing from previous research, we test three hypotheses regarding the impact of aging on SES and sport participation using longitudinal data. The data come from a prospective cohort study of children, all of whom were enrolled in grade 4 (at baseline) in the public school system of a large region of southern Ontario, Canada. We examine two outcome measures: participation in organized sport and physical activity and active free play. Our results show different effects of neighborhood household income, aging and gender for each outcome. For organized sport participation, neighborhood household income effects are constant over time for both boys and girls. For active free play however, neighborhood household income differences widen (or diverge) over time for girls, but not for boys. We discuss the implications of these findings for future research and policy considerations.