Scottish Government Equality Outcomes: Age Evidence Review

13 Sport

13.1 This section explores the range and rates of participation in sport and physical activity, and the barriers to greater participation.

13.2 According to the Scottish Household Survey (2009/10), participation in sport was highest among those aged 16 to 34 (84%), thereafter, participation decreased steadily until the age of 75, after which there was a sharp reduction with only 38% of those aged 75 and over engaging in sport in the past four weeks^[158]. Walking was the single more popular sport undertaken by all age groups. Excluding walking, swimming was the most popular single sport for all age groups other than 16-24 year olds (26% of whom had played football in the previous month) and over 75s (6% of whom had played bowls).

13.3 The Scottish Health Survey (2012)^[159] found that the likelihood of adhering to the physical activity recommendations fell steadily after the age of 34. Over half of respondents aged 16-24 and 25-34 met the recommendations, compared to only 20% of 65-74 year olds and 8% of those aged 75 and over.

13.4 The 2007/8 Scottish Household Survey^[160] elaborates on the age profile for participation in sport, as shown in Table 2 below. In 2008, 73% of respondents participated in sport including walking and 48% participated in sport excluding walking. Participation decreased with age. Levels of participation including walking did not change significantly between 2007 and 2008: participation excluding walking dropped slightly between 2007 and 2008 (51% to 48%), but there was no clear age pattern in the decrease in participation excluding walking. Note that care should be taken in drawing any conclusions about trends, because two years of data are not enough to establish a trend. Although the decrease in participation excluding walking is significant, it is only marginally so and further years of data are required before establishing whether there is a true downward trend.

Table 2: Participation in Sport in last 4 weeks by Gender and Age (Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2007/8)

13.5 Of those who did not participate in sport during the previous 12 months (see Table 3), the most common reason for not participating was poor health (54%), followed by a lack of interest (24%) and not having enough time (16%). Older respondents (aged 60 and over) reported poor health as being the most common reason for not participating, whilst disinterest was the main reason for lack of participation in the younger age groups^[161].

Table 3: Barriers to Sport Participation by Gender and Age (Source: Scottish Household Survey, 2007/8)

13.6 Research conducted in 2003^[162] for the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure, explored barriers to participation in certain sporting activities. It reported that elderly people felt sports programmes or events were aimed at the young, or that they would feel self-conscious participating when young people were present.

13.7 A systematic review of research on barriers and facilitators to children aged 4-10 and physical activity in the UK in 2003^[163] indicates how low levels of physical activity in childhood have been linked with low levels in adulthood, and those at greatest risk of inactivity belong to groups considered to be 'socially excluded'. The review found that there are "few evaluated health promotion interventions which address physical activity beyond school-based physical education" and that even fewer have been rigorously evaluated. However, in one rigorous study, interventions that engaged parents in supporting and encouraging their children's physical activity and a combination of school-based physical education and home-based activities were found to have been effective. Children identified barriers to their participation in physical activity, including restricted access to opportunities for physical activity caused by busy traffic, poor quality of playgrounds, and the need for local accessible facilities.