Physical Activity Maintenance in the Transition to Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study of the Roles of Sport and Lifestyle Activities in British Youth

Abstract

BackgroundPromoting physical activity in youth is important for health, but existing physical activity interventions have had limited success. We aimed to inform intervention design by i) describing drop-out, continuation and uptake of specific activities over the transition to adolescence; and ii) examining Variety (number of different activities/week) and Frequency (number of activity session/week) of activity participation and their associations with changes in objectively measured physical activity from childhood to adolescence.MethodsAt age 10.2±0.3 and 14.2±0.3 years, 319 children in the SPEEDY study (46% boys) wore GT1M Actigraph accelerometers for 7 days and provided self-reported participation (never, once, 2 to 3 times or four or more times, over the last 7 days) in 23 leisure-time activities. Associations of change in moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA (MVPA) (≥2000 counts/minute) and change in total physical activity (TPA) (average accelerometer counts/minute) with exposure variables Z-score transformed (change in) Variety and Frequency were examined using multilevel linear regression, clustered by school, in simple and adjusted models.ResultsThe number of children ever reporting a specific activity ranged from 30 (‘Hockey’) to 279 (‘Running or jogging’). Some activities were susceptible to drop-out (e.g. ‘Skipping’) but others were commonly continued or taken up (e.g. ‘Household chores’). Overall, Variety and Frequency declined (mean±SD ΔVariety −3.1±4.4 activities/week; ΔFrequency −7.2±12.0 session/week). ΔMVPA and ΔTPA were not associated with Variety or Frequency at baseline, nor with ΔVariety or ΔFrequency (p>0.29 in all models).ConclusionsPopularity of specific activities as well as drop-out, continuation and uptake should be considered in future intervention development. Activities that are commonly continued or taken up may be more valuable to encourage in interventions than those with low participation or high drop-out. We did not find evidence to support the idea that Variety and Frequency may be key elements to include in future interventions.

Changes in compliance with school‐based physical activity recommendations in Spanish youth: The UP&DOWN longitudinal study

“…The longitudinal decline in LPA during the whole day found in our study is consistent with previous research that also revealed a significant age‐related decline in overall objectively measured PA at these ages . However, the decline in both total PA and MVPA during the whole day and in compliance with the recommendations of 60 minutes of MVPA per day observed in the studied child boys and adolescent boys was not statistically significant among girls.…”

“…However, the decline in both total PA and MVPA during the whole day and in compliance with the recommendations of 60 minutes of MVPA per day observed in the studied child boys and adolescent boys was not statistically significant among girls. Brooke et al noted a MVPA decline in youths from ages 10 to 14 years, which was also notably higher among boys than girls. Several studies also showed a significant MVPA decrease among girls; however, other studies did not find a decrease in MVPA either for boys or for girls .…”

“…Given that inactivity increases with age, it is interesting to identify whether or not the school period contributes to the maintenance of MVPA levels in childhood. Several longitudinal studies have examined children and adolescents objectively measured PA levels during the whole day, but few of them have done it with school‐based PA . MVPA during the whole day significantly declined over the following 4‐ to 6‐years in English and American children aged 9‐ to 10‐years, but MVPA decline was not clear in 12‐year‐old English children .…”

“…9,12,13 Given that inactivity increases with age, 4,15 it is interesting to identify whether or not the school period contributes to the maintenance of MVPA levels in childhood. Several longitudinal studies have examined children and adolescents objectively measured PA levels during the whole day, 16,17 but few of them have done it with school-based PA. 16,19,20 MVPA during the whole day significantly declined over the following 4-to 6-years in English and American children aged 9-to 10-years, 16,17 but MVPA decline was not clear in 12-year-old English children. 19 Likewise, total PA and MVPA during school hours decreased in English children over a 4year period, 16 although in 12-year-old English children, only light PA (LPA) during school hours declined over 3 years.…”

Longitudinal Trends in Sport Participation and Retention of Women and Girls

“…We know that participation in sport during adolescence is associated with higher physical activity levels in adulthood (Bélanger et al, 2015). However, studies examining sport participation have suggested that sport drop-out (attrition) is relatively high, particularly during adolescence (Olds et al, 2009;Brooke et al, 2014;Eime et al, 2016a). There is evidence that adolescents play fewer sports than in childhood, and many drop out of sport completely (Eime et al, 2019b).…”