Grahame Whitfield
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SUMMARY
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7.1.1 Background
It is widely recognised that physical activity forms a fundamental part of a healthy lifestyle for both adults and children, and the promotion of physical activity has long been the aim of public health policies.2
Chapter 6 describes the association between health and physical activity among adults. It notes that studies looking at the health and physical activity levels of adults have resulted in a number of internationally accepted recommendations of the amount and type of physical activity among adults that is beneficial for health. However, there is less evidence of the benefits of and the type or amounts of activity recommended for children and young people.
In 1997, the Health Education Authority (HEA) conducted a review of the evidence surrounding the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity among young people. The product of this review was a report on the key aspects of physical activity among young people, setting out a proposed policy framework and recommendations for the desired level of physical activity among children.3,4
The report indicated that there is only weak evidence of a direct relationship between physical activity and health among children. However, it reported that research had demonstrated beneficial associations between physical activity and reduced overweight, fatness and obesity; psychological well being; self-esteem; biological risk factors for cardio-vascular disease (CVD); skeletal health and growth and other health related risk factors. It also reported on the extent to which active children become active adults. Although physical activity has been shown to increase the risk of musculo-skeletal injuries (this mostly associated with over-exercise), Riddoch argues that weak evidence does not detract from the 'conceptual, biological and behavioural plausibility that physical activity is a healthy pursuit for children'.5
The HEA review produced a detailed set of recommendations for 'young people' (this term was used to mean people aged 5-18 years) and physical activity. The primary recommendations were that:
The 1997 Health Survey for England (HSE) was the first major survey to develop questions to investigate children's level and type of physical activity.6 A broadly similar series of questions on children's physical activity were used again in the 1998 HSE, and these were also used in the 1998 Scottish Health Survey. The findings reported on here provide an opportunity to set baselines for the amount and type of physical activity of children in Scotland. They also provide an opportunity to make some comparison between the physical activity of children in Scotland and England.
7.1.2 Child physical activity questions
The 1998 Scottish Health Survey collected details about the physical activity of children aged between two and 15 years in four main categories: sport and exercise, active play, walking and housework/ gardening. The reference period ('the previous week') was taken as the seven days before the date of interview.
As in the Health Survey for England, activities participated in as part of the school curriculum (in 'school lessons') were specifically excluded. This was for three main reasons. First, the general assumption was made that the amount of activity carried out by children as part of the curriculum would be similar for all children (according to their age) and would therefore contribute a 'standard' additional amount of activity for each child. Second, activities as part of the school curriculum would generally be compulsory, whilst the survey was more concerned with what children would do of their own choice. Third, since a significant proportion of data would be 'by proxy' (i.e. collected from a parent), it was felt that information about school lessons would be less accurate than information about activities during leisure time. Activities that were not part of school lessons but which took place on school premises (e.g. after-school clubs) were included, maintaining comparability with the HSE.
Details of the types of activity included in each activity category are as follows:
Sports and Exercise
Active Play
Walking
Housework/Gardening
All these activities can be described as involving at least moderate intensity activity, with the exception of walking. For adults, only walking at a 'brisk' or 'fast' pace is defined as moderate intensity activity, but it is difficult to apply this definition across the whole age range of children included in the Scottish Health Survey. This may mean that for the older children (in particular), some walking may be included that does not represent moderate intensity activity. However, it should be noted that walking at any pace contributes to total energy expenditure and to the total of weight-bearing activity, both of which are important dimensions in children's health-enhancing physical activity.
The data collected were mainly limited to continuous spells of activity that had lasted for at least 15 minutes. This restriction may not impact equally on all types of activity or age groups. It may, for instance, have had more effect upon measurement of active play and (given the sporadic nature of their activity patterns) for the youngest children. Data for sports and exercise activities and active play were collected separately for weekends and weekdays, and further details relating to the durations of spells of activities were only collected in respect of these activity types. All incidences of participation in walking and housework/gardening are treated as having durations of 15 minutes. Overall then, one might expect the figures on duration of activity presented to be under-estimates of total physical activity (in that occurrences of physical activity of less than 15 minutes duration are not included), although it is not known whether informants tended to recall more or less activity than actually took place.
The figures are calculated in line with those for the 1998 HSE, which are presented in section 7.4 to provide comparisons between the physical activities of children in Scotland and England. Before that, Section 7.2 details rates, durations and patterns of physical activity and Section 7.3 examines variations by social class, region and other factors.
7.2 CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN DIFFERENT PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES
7.2.1 Participation in each activity type, by age and sex
Table 7.1 summarises the proportion of children who participated in the different types of activity in the week before the interview, by age and sex. For each activity type, the proportions of children participating and not participating are shown together with the mean number of days' participation. For sports and exercise and active play (for which details on durations of activities were collected), the mean number of hours' participation is also shown.
Table 7.1 also includes a summary category: 'any physical activities'. This adds together the number of days on which at least fifteen minutes of sports and exercise, active play, walking and/or housework/gardening were done. It should be noted that this summary probably over-estimates the actual number of days on which children were involved in physical activity, as it assumes that each activity was done on a different day. So, for example, if a child had done sports and exercise and active play on the same day, this would get counted as two days of activity in the summary category.
In considering these tables, it should be remembered that information was not collected on activities carried out as part of the school curriculum (i.e. during school classes). However, extra-curricular activity carried out on school premises is included.
Overall, almost all boys and girls had participated in at least some physical activity in the seven days before the interview (98% and 95% respectively). Among boys, those in the 2-3 age group were most likely to have done no physical activity (7%, compared with between 1% and 3% of those in other age groups). Although there was some variation with age among girls, there was no clear pattern: 4% had done no physical activity in the week before the interview. There were marked differences by age and sex within the categories of activity.
Sports and Exercise
Overall, around seven in ten (69%) boys and six in ten (60%) girls had participated in sports and exercise activities (on at least one occasion for at least 15 minutes) in the week before the interview.
Participation rates were similar among boys and girls under the age of 10 years. Above this age, however, boys were far more likely than girls to have participated in this type of activity. About four in ten children aged two or three years (44% of boys and 47% of girls) did some of these activities. This increased with age to peak to about eight in ten boys aged 10 or 11 years (82%) and seven in ten girls aged 8-9 years (72%). Whilst participation remained at a similar level among boys aged between 12-15 years, the proportion of girls in this age range doing these type of activities decreased. Only half (51%) of girls aged 14-15 years (compared with 78% of boys) did some of these activities.
Active Play
Overall, about nine in ten (90%) boys and eight in ten (81%) girls had participated in active play (on at least one occasion for at least 15 minutes) in the week before the interview.
Levels of participation in active play tended to be higher among younger children, with boys and girls aged 11 or under similarly likely (around nine in ten) to have participated. Above the age of 11, the proportion of children participating in this type of activity showed signs of decrease. Boys aged 14-15 years were least likely to have engaged in active play, although this was still at a high level (81%) in comparison with girls of the same age. Over the age of 11 years, the proportion of girls participating in active play decreased more dramatically: half (50%) of girls aged 14-15 years had done so in the week before the interview. Table 7.1
Walking
Two-thirds of children (66% of boys and the same proportion of girls) participated in walking (on at least one occasion for at least 15 minutes) in the week before the interview.
Participation in walking increased considerably with age among both boys and girls. In the region of three-fifths of boys and girls in the 2-3 age group (63% and 57% respectively) had done at least one walk of 15 minutes or more in the previous week. This increased to nearly four-fifths of those aged 14-15 years (79% and 76% respectively).
Housework/Gardening
Participation in housework/gardening activities was asked about only for children aged eight and over. Overall, girls in this age range (43%) were more likely than boys (36%) to participate in these activities.
Participation levels in these types of activities were lower than for any of the other types of activity. However, with increasing age, participation rates in housework/gardening also increased, this more notably amongst girls. One-quarter of children aged 8-9 years (28% of boys and 29% of girls) had done some of this type of activity (on at least one occasion for at least 15 minutes) in the week before the interview. This rose to 39% of boys and 54% of girls aged 14-15 years.
7.2.2 Number of days' participation in different physical activities
Table 7.2 shows the number of days' participation in the different types of activity in the week before the interview, together with the summary category 'all physical activities'. For the individual activity types, the table shows the number of days in the reference week on which informants had participated in the activity type for at least 15 minutes' duration on each occasion.
Overall, boys were slightly more likely than girls to have participated in some physical activity (for at least 15 minutes) on five or more days in the week before the interview (92% compared with 88%). There was no overall pattern with age, with younger children similarly likely as older children to have participated in some physical activities to this extent on at least five days in the previous week. The activity type most commonly engaged in for at least 15 minutes on five days or more was active play, with boys (69%) more likely than girls (56%) to have participated in this activity to this extent. Perhaps not surprisingly, participation in active play at this rate (five days or more) decreased markedly among children aged 12-15 years, with 14-15 year old girls the least likely to do so (21%, compared with 47% of boys in this age group).
About half of children had taken a walk (of at least fifteen minutes) on at least five days in the week before the interview (53% of boys and 50% of girls). This figure increased with age, from 42% of boys and 35% of girls in the 2-3 age group to about two-thirds of 14-15 year old boys (70%) and girls (63%).
Levels of participation in sports and exercise were lower, with 27% of boys and 15% of girls having participated for at least 15 minutes on five or more days in the week before the interview. The least common regular activity type was housework/gardening, which only 5% of boys and 8% of girls aged between 8-15 years had done on at least five days. Among girls, the proportion participating in housework /gardening to this extent increased with age, from 4% of those age 8-9 years to 13% of those aged 14-15 years. There was no increase with age among boys.
7.2.3 Time spent participating in physical activities
Table 7.3 shows the total time spent participating in the different activity types in the seven days before the interview, again on the basis of doing at least 15 minutes a day. As information on duration of housework/gardening and walking was not collected (other than establishing a minimum of 15 minute occurrences), separate figures for total time spent participating in these activities are not shown. They are, however, included in the overall activity levels.
Looking first at the overall mean number of hours children spent engaged in physical activities in the last week, the mean time spent by boys (14.0 hours) was higher than that spent by girls (11.0 hours). Among boys up to age 13, the mean time spent participating in physical activities was around 14-15 hours per week, reaching a peak of 15.1 hours among those in the 8-9 age group. The average level of participation then decreased with age to 12.5 hours among boys in the 14-15 age group. There was a steady decline among girls in the number of hours spent participating in physical activities with age, from a mean of 13.8 hours among those in the 2-3 age group to 6.4 hours among those in the 14-15 age group. The rate of decline in participation was particularly marked among girls aged over 11 years.
The average amount of time spent participating in active play was much greater than that spent on sports and exercise. Among boys, the overall figures were 8.8 and 3.8 hours respectively. Among girls, these figures were 7.1 and 2.4 hours respectively.
This overall pattern was strongly related to age. Among both boys and girls, the number of hours spent participating in sport and exercise increased with age. This was more marked among boys, for whom the mean number of hours increased from 1.8 hours per week in the 2-3 age group to 5.2 and 5.0 hours among 12-13 and 14-15 year olds. This compares with figures for girls of 1.6 hours at 2-3 years and 3.2 hours at aged 10-11, then declining to 2.2 hours among those aged 14-15 years. Conversely, the mean number of hours spent participating in active play decreased considerably with age among both boys and girls. It fell from 11.0 and 10.7 hours among boys and girls in the 2-3 age group to 5.8 and 2.3 hours among those in the 14-15 age group.
7.2.4 Patterns of activity
Table 7.4 shows the average time children spent participating in physical activities on each day on which they did some physical activity (that is, on each 'active' day), by the total number of 'active' days in the last week. The number of active days were grouped as 'none', 'between one and four', and 'five or more'. Again, estimates for all occurrences of walking and housework/gardening are included as being of 15 minutes duration.
As reported earlier, nearly all children had done some physical activity (of at least 15 minutes) in the last week - only 2% of boys and 4% of girls reported no active days in the week before the interview. Among boys, the proportion with no active days was slightly higher among pre-school age children. For example, 7% and 3% of boys in the 2-3 and 4-5 age groups, compared with about 1% among boys aged between six and 11. The picture was similar among girls, but not so clearly defined.
This pattern may (at least to some extent) be an artefact of the imposition of a 15 minute minimum for the duration of participation in the activities asked about. That is, the youngest children may have been active in these activities, but not for as much as 15 minutes a time. This was noted in section 7.1.2 as possibly having resulted in under-estimated amounts of (particularly younger) children's activity.
Large proportions of children reported high levels of physical activity. Seven in ten (73%) boys and six in ten girls (60%) were physically active for at least one hour a day on at least five days in the week before the interview. These figures consist of 29% of boys and 28% of girls being active for between one and two hours, and a further 44% and 32% (respectively) being active for at least two hours a day on most days.
The proportion of boys that participated in physical activities for at least two hours a day on most days decreased with age, from half (49%) of those in the 2-3 age group to three in ten (34%) of those in the 14-15 age group. To some extent this reflects that, although most boys in this latter age group did some physical activity on most days, one in ten (10%) boys were active for less than 30 minutes on most days.
The proportion of girls participating in physical activities for at least two hours a day decreased more markedly with age than was the case among boys - from half (46%) of those in the 2-3 age group to 10% of those in the 14-15 age group. As was the case among boys, this reflects that although the majority of girls in this latter age group did some physical activity on most days, this tended to be for shorter amounts of time than girls in other age groups: in particular for less than 30 minutes (27%) on most days.
7.2.5 Summary measure of activity levels
In this section, participation in the different types of activity has been summarised into a frequency-duration scale, by taking account of the average (mean) time spent participating in physical activities, and the number of active days in the last week.
As before, the limitations of this need to be borne in mind when using these figures, as data was collected only about activities that lasted for at least 15 minutes a time, and detailed duration of activities was not collected for walking and housework/gardening activities. For these activity types, therefore, any occurrences are counted as having been for 15 minutes. For the purpose of this analysis, it is assumed that all occurrences of these types of activity are of at least moderate intensity.
The summary measure is as follows:
Groups 1 and 2 identify those children achieving the recommended levels of activity of either an average of (i) one hour, or (ii) 30 minutes, a day of physical activity of at least moderate intensity. For these purposes, '5 days or more' is counted as equivalent to 'nearly every day' or 'on most days'. It should be remembered that, as before, any physical activity carried out during school lessons as part of the school curriculum are not included in the estimates presented here, although extra-curricular activities are.
Table 7.5 shows the proportions of boys and girls in each of these activity groups, by age. Overall, a higher proportion of boys than girls achieved the recommended levels: 73% of boys were in Group 1 (60 minutes or more on most days), compared with 60% of girls. A further 13% of boys and 17% of girls were in Group 2 (between 30-59 minutes on most days). This is reflected in that, overall, girls were much more likely than boys not to have achieved either of the recommended levels of physical activity (23%, compared with 14%).
Among boys, the proportion in activity Group 1 was at its highest among those in the 6-11 age range, where around eight in ten achieved the higher recommended level activity. This proportion decreased with age (from a peak of 80% among 8-9 year olds), such that 65% of boys in the 14-15 age group achieved this level of activity. Extending this to include meeting at least the lower recommended activity level, this age difference all but disappears, although it is notable that the proportion of boys not meeting either of the recommended activity levels increased from 10% of those in the 10-11 age group to 16% of those aged 14-15 years.
With the exception of 2-3 year olds, girls in all age groups were less likely than boys to achieve even the lower level of recommended activity. The difference was most marked among girls in the 12-13 and 14-15 age groups, where twice the proportions of girls than boys did not meet either of the recommended activity levels. Among girls, one-quarter of those in the 12-13 age group (27%) and over a third (39%) of those in the 14-15 age group did not meet the lower target level of 30 minutes' activity per day (respectively, compared with 13% and 16% of boys).
7.3 VARIATIONS IN PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVITY
This section looks at variations in participation in activity overall (Groups 1, 2 and 3) and the different activity types (sports and exercise, active play, walking and housework/gardening) by the social class of the household's chief income earner (CIE). The extent of participation is also examined by region and measures of self-reported health.
7.3.1 Variations by social class
Overall, there were no consistent or very strong relationships between physical activity levels and social class. However, there were some subtle differences.
Girls in manual social class households were slightly less likely to have a low level of activity (20/22% in Classes IIIM and IV/V compared with 25/26% in Classes I/II and IIINM. This was not the case for boys, among whom those in Social Classes IIINM and IIIM were the least likely (11%) to have low activity rates.
Boys from Social Class IV/V households were least likely to have participated in sports and exercise activities in the week before the interview (37% had not done so, compared with between 29% and 31% of boys in other social class households). However, boys from Social Class IIIM and IV/V households (29% and 30%) were more likely than boys from Social Class I/II and IIINM households (23% and 25%) to participate in sports and exercise on at least five days in the week before the interview.
The pattern was not so distinct among girls, although those in Social Class I/II households were more likely than girls in all other groups to have participated in sports and exercise in the week before the interview (66% compared with between 55-58% of girls in other social class households). However, the extent of girls' participation for at least five days in the week before the interview was very similar (between 14% and 16% of girls in each social class had participated).
For active play, the proportions of children who participated in the week before the interview varied very little by social class for either boys or girls. There was also no overall pattern in terms of the proportions that participated for at least 15 minutes on most days, although it can be noted that both boys (65%) and girls (53%) in Social Class I/II households were the least likely to have participated to this extent.
Boys in manual social class households were more likely than those in non-manual households to have done some walking (for at least 15 minutes) on at least five days in the week before the interview. Just under half (47%) of boys in Social Class I/II households, compared with 58% of boys in Social Classes IV/V, did so to this extent. In part, this reflects that boys in Social Class I/II households were more likely than boys in all other social classes not to have participated in any walking in the week before the interview (37%, compared with 32% in other social class households). Among girls, there was little difference in terms of the overall proportion who had participated in walking in the week before the interview as well as in terms of the extent of participation.
The proportion of boys aged 8-15 years who participated in housework/gardening was unrelated to social class (younger children were not asked about these type of activities). However, there was some difference among girls (in this age range) in terms of social class: those in Social Class IV/V households were most likely to have undertaken any housework/gardening (for at least 15 minutes on any days) in the week before the interview (51% had been involved in at least 15 minutes of these types of activities on at least one day), whilst those in Social Class I/II households (37%) were least likely to have done so.
However, when the different types of activity are combined, there was relatively little association between social class and the overall level of physical activity.
7.3.2 Variations by region
Table 7.8 shows the proportions of boys and girls in activity groups 1, 2 and 3 by region. This table indicates that there were some regional differences in the proportions of children in each of the activity groups.
Overall, the proportion of boys meeting the higher level of activity (Group 1) was seven in ten (73%). The equivalent proportion for girls was six in ten (60%). The figures for boys ranged from 69% in Grampian/Tayside to 77% in the Forth Valley, Argyll and Clyde. Among girls, the proportion meeting the Group 1 activity level ranged from 51% in Borders, Dumfries and Galloway to 65% in Lothian and Fife. Whilst relatively similar proportions (12-15%) of boys in each region met the lower activity level (Group 2), the proportion of girls meeting this level ranged from 14% in Lothian and Fife to 22% in the Highland and Islands and in Borders, Dumfries and Galloway.
Among boys, the percentage who did not meet either of the recommended levels ranged from 9% (Borders, Dumfries and Galloway; Forth Valley, Argyll and Clyde) to 16% (Grampian and Tayside; Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Arran). Among girls, these figures ranged from 18% (Forth Valley, Argyll and Clyde) to 29% (Greater Glasgow).
7.3.3 Variations by self-reported health
Table 7.9 shows the proportions of boys and girls in activity groups 1, 2, and 3 by self-assessed general health ('very good', 'good' or 'fair/bad/very bad'), presence of longstanding illness, and whether they had any days' acute sickness in the last two weeks.
Overall, there was evidence of the extent of participation in physical activities decreasing with declining self-assessed general health. This was particularly the case among girls.7 One in ten (12%) boys and two in ten (20%) girls with 'very good' self-reported general health were in Group 3 (that is, not achieving either recommended level of activity). This compares with approaching two in ten (16%) boys and three in ten (33%) girls with self-reported 'fair, bad or very bad' health in Group 3. For girls, this association is mirrored in a health-related decrease in the proportions in activity Group 1 (from 63% of girls with 'very good' health to 47% of those with 'fair/bad/very bad' health). The proportion of boys in Group 1 did not decrease consistently with declining health status.
There was no significant relationship between the presence of a longstanding illness and the extent of participation in physical activities. The small differences found were in the expected direction, with slightly greater amounts of physical activity found among those children without long-standing illnesses.
Perhaps not surprisingly, given that both sets of questions related to the period immediately before the interview, there was a clear relationship between the incidence of recent acute sickness and participation in physical activity, this being considerably more marked among girls than boys. Higher proportions of children who reported no periods of acute sickness in the two weeks before the interview were in activity Group 1 (74% of boys and 61% of girls) than was the case among those who reported acute sickness during this period (66% of boys and 47% of girls).
7.3.4 Logistic regression of determinants of physical activity levels
Separate logistic regression models were run for boys and girls, with the following independent variables: age group, social class of chief income earner, region, self-reported general health status and a summary measure of longstanding illness and any sickness in the two weeks before the interview. The dependent variables were participation in physical activity for at least 60 minutes per day (the higher recommended level) and participation in physical activity for at least 30 minutes per day (the lower recommended level).
The odds ratios are presented in Tables 7.10 and 7.11, and are relative to the average for each independent variable. An odds ratio of less that one means that the group was less likely to participate in physical activity at the higher recommended level (Table 7.10) or the lower recommended level (Table 7.11) than the overall average. An odds ratio of more than one in each table means the group was more likely to participate in physical activity at the relevant level. Independent variables with a 'p' value of 0.05 or less are significant predictors of the dependent variable at the 95% level. The following text mainly reports on Table 7.10 (the odds of meeting the higher recommended activity level: Group 1).
The variations already noted between sub-groups in participation in the different activity types, and in physical activities overall, tended to be confirmed in the regression models.
Boys
For boys, the odds of being in activity Group 1 (in comparison with boys in general) were clearly related to age:
No statistically significant associations were found when the odds ratios for boys achieving at least the lower level of recommended physical activity (i.e. of being in Group 2 or Group 1) were looked at. However, the nature of the variation was the same as reported on above in respect of achieving the higher recommended activity level.
Girls
For girls (as for boys), the odds of being in activity Group 1 (in comparison with girls in general) were clearly related to age. Unlike among boys, there was also an association with self-reported general health among girls.
Looking at the odds of achieving at least the lower level of recommended activity among girls, the associations with age, and self reported general health and the presence of longstanding illness or recent sickness were generally maintained.
7.4 COMPARISONS BETWEEN SCOTLAND AND ENGLAND
Data from the 1998 Health Survey for England (HSE) was compared with that obtained in the 1998 Scottish Health Survey to investigate whether there were differences in the extent and types of physical activity in which children aged 2-15 participated. Comparisons are also made with figures for children in Northern England; this data was also taken from the 1998 HSE.8
7.4.1 Summary measure of activity levels
The same frequency-duration scale as reported on for Scottish children in section 7.2.5 was applied to the data for children in England using 1998 HSE data. The comparative results are presented in Table 7.12.
Overall, the Scottish Health Survey indicates a slightly higher proportion of boys in Scotland achieving the higher recommended activity level (at least 60 minutes per day on most days _ activity Group 1) than those in England. Girls in Scotland were similarly likely as those in England (or Northern England) to have achieved this level of activity.
Seventy-three per cent of boys in Scotland were in Group 1, compared with 69% of boys in England. The proportion in Northern England was 71%. The same proportion (14%) of Scottish boys were in activity Group 3 (low activity) as was the case in England and Northern England.
Six in ten (60%) girls in Scotland achieved the higher level of physical activity, compared with 59% of girls in England and 61% of girls in Northern England. Again, similar proportions of girls in Scotland (23%) as in England (23%) or Northern England (22%) were in activity Group 3.
Overall, the relationship with age was similar among boys and girls in Scotland and England, with physical activity levels decreasing after age 11.
7.4.2 Participation in different types of activity
The country comparisons reported above are reflected in terms of the types of physical activity children participated in and the number of days on which they did so. This section looks in turn at the number of days children participated in sports and exercise, active play, walking and housework/ gardening. It then compares Scotland and England in terms of the number of days children participated any physical activities for at least 15 minutes per day.
Sports and Exercise
About three in ten boys in Scotland (31%), compared with around four in ten boys in England (40%) or Northern England (37%), had not participated in sports and exercise for at least 15 minutes on any day in the week before the interview. Respectively, the comparable figures for girls were 40%, 47% and 45%.
Boys in Scotland were more likely to have participated in sports and exercise for more days than their peers in England or Northern England. Forty-two per cent had participated in these types of activities on at least three days, compared with 32% in England and 35% in Northern England. Girls in Scotland were slightly more likely (26%) than those in England (22%) and Northern England (22%) (but in all cases less likely than boys) to have participated to this extent.
In both Scotland and England, the proportions of boys participating in sports and exercise increased with age. For example, the proportions who participated on 'most days' (5 or more) in Scotland increased from less than two in ten (18%) of those in the 2-3 age group to three in ten (30%) of those in the 14-15 age group. This is very similar to the figures for England (respectively, 13% and 28%) and Northern England (19% and 35%).
Active Play
Children's participation in active play in Scotland, England and Northern England was very similar, as was the decrease in participation with increasing age.
Overall, boys in Scotland were slightly more likely than those in England and Northern England to have participated in active play for at least 15 minutes on most days in the week before the interview (respectively 69%, 65% and 62%). They were similarly likely as each other not to have participated in such activities on any days (around one in ten). In comparison, just over half of girls in each case (respectively 56%, 55%, 55%) participated in active play on most days, whilst around two in ten did not participate at all. In each case, the association with age was the same _ with increasing age, the proportion not participating in active play increased, this association being much more marked among girls than boys.
Walking
Children in Scotland participated in walking to a greater extent than those in England and Northern England.
About half of boys in Scotland (53%) participated in walking for at least 15 minutes on at least five days in the week before the interview, compared with lower levels of such participation among boys in England and Northern England (respectively, 41% and 44%). The corresponding figures for girls are 50%, compared with 40% and 42%.
This overall difference can be accounted for by the larger proportion of older children (particularly boys) participating in walking on at least five days in the week before the interview. For example, whilst very similar proportions of children aged 2-3 years in Scotland and England (and Northern England) participated in walking on at least five days (around four in ten boys and three in ten girls), there are marked differences among those in the 14-15 age group. Almost seven in ten (70%) boys in Scotland aged 14-15 years had participated in walking on at least five days, compared with 52% of those from England (and 59% of those from Northern England). Among girls, the figures are 63% and 55% (with girls in Scotland being very similar to girls in Northern England in this respect _ the figure for the latter being 61%).
Housework/Gardening
The participation rates in housework and gardening were very similar among children in Scotland and England, as was the relationship with age.
Boys in Scotland were as likely as those in England not to have done any housework/gardening activity - around two-thirds (of those aged between 8-15 years) in each case (respectively, 64% and 67%). Those who did participate did so for similar numbers of days across all age groups and in both Scotland and England. Boys in Northern England participated in housework/gardening to a slightly lesser degree (73% did not participate in this activity for a single period of 15 minutes in the week before the interview) than those in Scotland or England in general.
Among girls, those in Scotland (57%) were slightly less likely to have participated in these types of activities than those in England (63%) or Northern England (63%). The level of participation amongst those that did participate was relatively similar amongst girls in the three areas.
Any physical activities
Overall, if each of the types of activity asked about are combined, it can be seen that boys in Scotland (92%) were similarly likely as those from England (91%) or Northern England (89%) to have participated in some form of physical activity on at least five days in the last week.
The pattern among boys in Scotland remained fairly uniform across the 2-15 age range. This was also the case for England as a whole, although there was some degree of fluctuation in Northern England.
The overall pattern of participation of girls in Scotland was also similar to that of their peers in England and Northern England. They were equally likely to have participated in some form of physical activity on 'most days' in the last week (88%, compared with 88% in England and 87% in Northern England). With increasing age, girls in both Scotland and England became less likley than boys to have participated at all in physical activities.