Sports club participation passed on from one generation to the next
The research focused on sports club participation among participants who lived their childhood and adolescence between 1980 and 1992, and on their children’s sports club participation between 2018 and 2020. The aim of the study was to shed light on the factors that contribute to adopting a physically active lifestyle within the Finnish population.
The detected associations between the sports club participation of parents and their children were independent of participants’ sex, children’s body mass index, chronical diseases, number of siblings, area of residence, and the parents’ level of education and income.
“It’s interesting to note that, for instance, family size and financial circumstances did not weaken the association between parents’ and children’s participation in sports clubs during childhood,” says university researcher Kaisa Kaseva from the Ģֱ.
The association weakens in later adolescence
Even though the relationship between parents’ and children’s sports club participation exists in childhood and early youth, the association diminishes towards later youth and adulthood.
This may be because during these age periods adolescents become interested in a variety of new activities, and the opinions and behaviour of peers begin to influence their own behaviour. Furthermore, sports club hobbies may start having more demanding and competitive characteristics, which is why some young people may choose to discontinue their participation.
“This does not mean, however, that systematic training or competitions should be reduced in sports clubs,” Kaseva says. “Along with these, sports clubs should continue developing lighter, fun-focused activities to motivate as many adolescents and young adults as possible.”
Support for families’ sports club participation
Based on the research results, supporting families to participate in a sports club may be a key factor in developing a physically active lifestyle.
“Favourable attitudes towards sports club participation and physical activity should be strengthened especially with the parents of school-aged children, as they can influence the types of activities they offer and organise for their children,” says Kaseva. “Developing physical activity interventions for children should also be continued. As we are aware that parents’ sports club participation can be passed on from one generation to the next, we can expect or hope that the sports club participation habits of current school-aged children would also be passed on to the next generation.”
The research is part of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns study that was established in 1980 and extended to a three-generation study during 2018. The present study utilises self-reported data on participants’ sports club participation as well as data on sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors from two generations.
The research paper can be found here:
More information:
Senior Researcher Kaisa Kaseva
Ģֱ, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences
and University of Helsinki, Faculty of Medicine
E-mail: kaisa.kaseva@helsinki.fi
Tel.: +358443077737
