A profile of physical activities of Maltese 11 year olds

Abstract

Participation in regular physical activities brings along diverse physical and psychological benefits. The World Health Organisation (2011) recommends children and youth to spend at least one hour on moderate-to vigorous-intensity physical activity daily. However this recommendation is not always accomplished and sedentary lifestyle is always on the increase. This study intends to create a profile of all the physical activities carried out by eleven year olds, both during and after school hours. Quantitative research method with 165 boys and girls using questionnaires was used, focusing on the physical activities carried out before and during school hours only. Qualitative data was also obtained through 10 focus groups (boys and girls), focusing on all the physical activities carried out after school hours and on weekends. This study included eleven year old boys and girls from different regions in Malta to ensure the data gathered represents the whole population. Through collecting a list of all the activities carried out by children, the researcher aimed to investigate whether Maltese eleven year olds are approaching a physically active or a sedentary lifestyle. From this study it was concluded that eleven year old boys and girls are physically active, but there is still more work to be done in order to reach the W.H.O. recommendation. Furthermore, it was evident that boys are more physically active than girls, both during and after school hours. On the other hand both genders are spending quite a long time on various sedentary activities. Eleven year olds are more physically active during the weekend, considering that more free time is available. One has to take into consideration the barriers, such as road safety, and facilitators, such as after schools sports, that children face everyday in order to be physically active throughout the week.