Correlations between Physical Activity Participation and the Environment in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Using Ecological Frameworks

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) and sports are efficient ways to promote the young generation’s physical and mental health and development. This study expected to demonstrate the complexity of correlates associated with children’s and adolescents’ non-organized PA participation. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Protocols (PRISMA), a systematic review and meta-analysis were applied. Seven electronic databases were systematically searched to identify eligible articles based on a series of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The internal validity of the systematic reviews thus identified was evaluated using a validated quality instrument. Calculations were produced in SPSS 27.0 and Comprehensive Meta-Analysis 3.3. Thirty-nine eligible studies (N = 324,953) with moderate to high quality were included. No potential publication bias was detected using statistical analyses. The meta-analysis revealed that the overall ecological factors correlated positively with children and adolescents’ PA; the meta-analytic average of the correlations was (′r = 0.32, p < 0.001). Results from subgroup analysis indicated that theory-based influence factors achieved moderate effect with boys (′r = 0.37, p < 0.001) and girls (′r = 0.32, p < 0.001) in PA participation. Interestingly, higher correlations were found between ecological factors and twins’ PA participation (′r = 0.61, p = 0.001). Further, individual (′r = 0.32, p < 0.001), macro-, and chronosystems factors (′r = 0.50, p < 0.001) appeared slightly more influential than microsystems factors (′r = 0.28, p < 0.001) on children and adolescents’ PA participation. Although findings from the included studies covered were to some extent heterogeneous, it is possible to identify consistent correlates of PA in children and adolescents. The results supported that PA is a complex and multi-dimensional behavior, which is determined by numerous biological, psychological, sociocultural, and environmental factors. Future studies that focus on the integration effect of macrosystem and chronosystem environmental factors, and apply longitudinal designs and objective measurements are encouraged to further unfold the complexity of the ecological system and its implications in promoting children and adolescents’ PA participation.

Pre-COVID-19 pandemic health-related behaviours in children (2018–2020) and association with being tested for SARS-CoV-2 and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (2020–2021): a retrospective cohort study using survey data linked with routine health data in Wales, UK

“…Indeed, there is a wealth of evidence demonstrating that childhood physical activity participation is highly influenced by their social environment and coparticipation with peers. 43 It is therefore possible that physically active children had increased social contacts and exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through coparticipation of activity and play opportunities.…”

Pre-COVID-19 pandemic health-related behaviours in children (2018-2020) and association with being tested for SARS-CoV-2 and testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 (2020-2021): a retrospective cohort study using survey data linked with routine health data in Wales, UK

“…Engagement in physically active behaviours such as out of school clubs, higher frequency of physically active days in a week and riding a bike may increase the number of social contacts of the child. Indeed, there is a wealth of evidence demonstrating that childhood physical activity participation is highly influenced by their social environment and co-participation with peers [39]. It is therefore possible that physically active children had increased social contacts and exposure to SARS-CoV-2 through co-participation of activity and play opportunities.…”

The Relationship between Exercise Intention and Exercise Behavior among Chinese Junior High School Students: A Moderated Mediation Model

“…Hui et al (2022) found that social support given by parents, teachers and friends can positively predict teenagers' exercise behavior. Similarly, Li et al (2021) found that feeling social support from others is also conducive to teenagers to invest more positive emotions in physical exercise. At the same time, the exercise intention model also believes that strong exercise intention will enable individuals to show themselves well in physical exercise, thus improving exercise social support (Kelei, 2019).…”