A1 Journal article (refereed)
Does sports club participation contribute to physical activity among children and adolescents? : A comparison across six European countries (2019)

Kokko, S., Martin, L., Geidne, S., Hoye, A. V., Lane, A., Meganck, J., Scheerder, J., Seghers, J., Villberg, J., Kudlacek, M., Badura, P., Mononen, K., Blomqvist, M., De Clercq, B., & Koski, P. (2019). Does sports club participation contribute to physical activity among children and adolescents? : A comparison across six European countries. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 47(8), 851-858. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494818786110

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Kokko, Sami; Martin, Leena; Geidne, Susanna; Hoye, Aurelie Van; Lane, Aoife; Meganck, Jeroen; Scheerder, Jeroen; Seghers, Jan; Villberg, Jari; Kudlacek, Michal; et al.

Journal or series: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health

ISSN: 1403-4948

eISSN: 1651-1905

Publication year: 2019

Volume: 47

Issue number: 8

Pages range: 851-858

Publisher: Sage Publications Ltd.

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494818786110

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access:

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/68281

Abstract

Aims: Insufficient physical activity (PA) is one of the largest public health challenges of our time and requires a multisectoral public-health response. PA recommendations state that all children and adolescents should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) daily and carry out vigorous PA (VPA) three times weekly. While participation in sports club activities is known to enhance the probability of reaching the recommended overall PA level, less is known about the contribution of sports club participation to VPA, and few cross-national comparisons have been carried out. The purpose of this paper is to study whether participation in sports club activities is associated with meeting the overall PA and VPA recommendations among children and adolescents across six European countries, namely Belgium (Flanders), Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland and Sweden. Methods: Analyses were carried out on existing self-reported national data sets using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: Results indicate that approximately two-thirds of children and adolescents take part in sports club activities in the given countries. Sports club participants were more likely to meet the overall PA recommendations (OR 2.4–6.4) and VPA recommendation (OR 2.8–5.0) than non-participants. Conclusions: The extent to which overall PA and/or VPA is gained through sports club participation versus other settings needs to be further studied. Nonetheless, it can be argued that sports clubs have an important position in PA promotion for younger populations.

Keywords: children (age groups); young people; physical activity; recommendations; physical hobbies; public health; youth

Free keywords: guidelines and recommendations; physical activity; sport; sports club

Contributing organizations

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2019

JUFO rating: 1