Faculty of Nursing, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 02071 Albacete, Spain.
Social and Health Care Research Center, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 16071 Cuenca, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Apr 27;17(9):3033. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17093033.
Despite the benefits of engaging in physical activity during their leisure time, children do not meet the recommendations on physical activity. Following the socio-ecological model as a theoretical framework, the aim of this study was to determine the barriers and facilitators that influence physical activity participation in children's leisure time. Data collection was conducted through focus groups and individual drawings in a sample of 98 eight- to eleven-year-olds from six schools in Cuenca (Spain). Following the socio-ecological model, individual characteristics (age and sex), as well as the microsystem (parents and friends), mesosystem (timing and out-of-school schedule) and exosystem (safety and weather) influence physical activity participation. The relationships between these levels of the socio-ecological model reveal that opportunities for leisure physical activity are determined by children's schedules. This schedule is negotiated by the family and is influenced by parents' worries and necessities. This is the main barrier to physical activity participation due to the creation of more restrictive, sedentary schedules, especially for girls. Our results show the elements required to develop successful strategies to increase physical activity opportunities, namely, focusing on giving children the opportunity to choose activities, raising parents' awareness of the importance of physical activity and improving the perceived safety of parks, taking into consideration the gender perspective.
尽管在闲暇时间进行身体活动有诸多益处，但儿童并未达到身体活动的推荐量。本研究以社会生态学模型为理论框架，旨在确定影响儿童闲暇时间身体活动参与的障碍和促进因素。通过对来自西班牙昆卡六所学校的 98 名 8 至 11 岁儿童的焦点小组和个人绘画进行数据收集。根据社会生态学模型，个体特征（年龄和性别）以及微系统（父母和朋友）、中系统（时间和校外时间表）和外系统（安全和天气）影响身体活动参与。这些社会生态模型层次之间的关系表明，闲暇身体活动的机会取决于儿童的日程安排。这个日程是由家庭协商制定的，并受到父母的担忧和需求的影响。这是阻碍身体活动参与的主要因素，因为这会导致更具限制性、久坐的日程安排，尤其是对女孩而言。我们的研究结果表明，需要考虑到性别视角，确定开发成功增加身体活动机会的策略所需的要素，即重点为孩子提供选择活动的机会，提高家长对身体活动重要性的认识，并改善公园的感知安全。
