Table 3 |
|
|
10–11 year old children's reports of the associations between physical activity and social status, and how friends help to initiate and maintain physical activity participation |
|
| Theme |
Summary of key items within the theme |
|
|
|
| Associations between physical activity and social group status |
• Being good at sports (particularly football or "soccer") is a key status symbol
for boys; boys popular at sports also seems to be a key factor in identifying leaders
within the school. |
| • For girls the link between physical activity and social status is less clear. For
some girls being good at sports is seen as a positive status symbol, in other group
poor sporting ability also has high social status. |
|
| • The perceived gender difference in this perception was reported by both boys but
participants from lower SES schools seemed to be able to articulate this difference
more clearly. |
|
|
|
|
| Initiation of physical activity |
Friends provide social support to start physical activity via: |
| • Co-participation in physical activity, for example by a friend taking the child
to the new activity. |
|
| • Modeling of being activity by older children or friends |
|
| • Verbal support to initiate a new physical activity; particularly in the form of
joining new activity clubs. |
|
|
|
|
| Maintenance of physical activity |
The maintenance of active behaviors was influenced by two factors: |
| • Physical activity is enjoyable |
|
| • Comparison of active and sedentary pursuits: Participants commented that the social
aspects of activity are often preferable to the more solitary pursuits that can be
associated with screen-time. |
|
|
|
|
|
Jago et al. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 2009 6:4 doi:10.1186/1479-5868-6-4 |
|
