Final Year Primary School Children's Physical Activity Levels and Choices

The present study was undertaken to examine the physical activity levels and choices of a sample of 10–11 year‐old primary school children. Nine hundred and twenty‐four children completed a self‐report questionnaire devised to assess participation in physical activity over the previous 7 days. Over the previous week 17.1% of the children failed to accumulate 30 min total physical activity, in particular, over one fifth of the girls (21.2%) had not participated in more than 30 min in total. Less than one third (31.5%) of the children had satisfied the recommended level of physical activity for increasing cardiorespiratory fitness, HDL cholesterol and enhancing psychological health, although more boys (36.3%) had satisfied the criteria than girls (26.7%). Gender differences were also apparent in the activities chosen, the boys were more likely to participate in the team sports traditionally taught in physical education whilst the girls spent more of their time engaged in sports not usually included in the curriculum.

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Notes on contributors

Julia Shropshire

Julia Shropshire is with the Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, UK

Bob Carroll

Bob Carroll is with the Centre for Physical Education and Leisure Studies, University of Manchester, UK.