Economic and Social Research Institute, Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson's Quay, Dublin, Ireland.
Soc Sci Med. 2010 Mar;70(5):711-9. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.11.006. Epub 2009 Dec 3.
Recall data from a representative sample of 3080 adults in Ireland in 2003 is used to investigate transitions into and out of regular participation in sports and exercise--an important contributor to overall physical activity. The method produces a continuous picture of participation across the life-course, allowing key transition periods in the life-course to be identified and the determinants of transitions to be analysed with multivariate models. Late adolescence emerges as an important period, when many people drop out from team sports, especially females. Participation in adulthood mostly involves taking up individual sports and exercise activities. The likelihood of making this transition is strongly associated with socio-economic status. Transitions in activity during adulthood do not display significant sex differences, suggesting that the gender gap for involvement in sports and exercise has its roots in childhood. The method also allows age and cohort effects to be distinguished, revealing higher participation among more recent cohorts. The findings must be interpreted carefully, since they are reliant on the accuracy of personal recall. Yet they have implications for how physical activity policy applies over the life-course, suggesting possible returns to targeting lower socio-economic groups in early adulthood, to offering a broader range of activities to young females, and to researching and promoting those activities most likely to be of interest to current young adults as they age.
利用 2003 年在爱尔兰对 3080 名成年人进行的代表性抽样调查数据，研究了人们参与和退出体育锻炼的情况——这是整体身体活动的一个重要贡献因素。该方法描绘了一生中参与体育活动的连续画面，使人们能够确定生命历程中的关键过渡时期，并通过多元模型分析过渡的决定因素。青少年晚期是一个重要时期，许多人会退出团队运动，尤其是女性。成年人的参与主要涉及个人运动和锻炼活动。参与这种活动的可能性与社会经济地位密切相关。成年期的活动转换没有明显的性别差异，这表明参与运动和锻炼的性别差距源于童年时期。该方法还可以区分年龄和队列效应，揭示最近队列中更高的参与率。由于这些发现依赖于个人记忆的准确性，因此必须谨慎解释。然而，它们对整个生命历程中如何实施体育活动政策具有启示意义，表明在成年早期针对社会经济地位较低的群体可能会有回报，为年轻女性提供更广泛的活动选择，并研究和推广那些最有可能引起当前年轻人兴趣的活动随着他们年龄的增长。
