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This article highlights the following points;
1. Participation in Sport and Physical Activities by Children Aged 4-11 Years
2. Participation in Sport and Physical Activities by Children Aged 4-11 Years by Types of Sport
3. Participation in Sport and Physical Activities by Young People Aged 12-21 Years
4. Ranking of Participation in Sport and Physical Activities by Young People Aged 12-21 Years by Types of Sport
The levels of frequency of children’s participation in sport and physical activities were divided into 4 groups (Table 2-6). Those who had not participated in any sport or physical activities within the previous year were categorized into the “non-participation group”; those who participated at least once a year but less than three times a week (between 1-155 times per year) were categorized into the “low frequency group”; those who participated at least three times a week but less than seven times a week (between 156-363 times per year) were categorized into the “moderate frequency group”; and those who participated at least seven times a week (364 or more times per year) were categorized into the “high frequency group”. Participation in sport activities during classes or events at school, kindergarten or nursery school were excluded from this survey.
Concerning the frequency of participation in sport and physical activities, children who never participated in any sport or physical activities (non-participation group) were 3.1%; those who participated at least three times a week (moderate and high frequency groups) were over 79.8%; and those who participated in sport and physical activities at least seven times a week (high frequency group) were 45.4% (Figure 2-2). Half of the children were actively exercising, but about 20% of the children fallen into the non-participation group or low frequency group.
By gender, the moderate frequency group and high frequency group combined account for 81.1% of boys and 78.4% of girls, with boys exceeding girls by 2.7 percentage points.
By school year, the high frequency group is 38.5% for preschool children, 50.0% for first and second grades, 51.5% for third and fourth grades and 42.0% for fifth and sixth grades. The percentage of the high frequency group increased from preschool children to third and fourth grades, but decreased in fifth and sixth grades. On the other hand, the percentage of the non-participation group and the low-frequency group combined peaked in the third and fourth grades and declined to 15.6%, but increased in the fifth and sixth grades to 21.7%.
Table 2-7 shows the ranking of participation in sport and physical activities by children aged 4-11 years (top ten sport and physical activities “often participated in” in the previous year). This excludes sport and physical activities that were performed irregularly, allowing for a more accurate and clear understanding of the types of sport and physical activities that are participated daily. Overall, “Tag” had the highest participation rate of 57.3%, followed by “Bicycle riding”, “Jump rope (including long jump rope)”, “Dodgeball” and “Swimming”. In addition, from 2019 to 2021, the participation rates of activities such as “Jump rope (including long jump rope)” and “Iron bar”, which involve little physical contact with humans, have increased, possibly due to the spread of the COVID-19 infection.
Regarding gender, “Tag” had the highest participation rate for boys, followed by “Football”, “Dodgeball”, “Bicycle riding” and “Swimming”, while for girls, “Tag” had the highest participation rate, followed by “Jump rope (including long jump rope)”, “Swings”, “Bicycle riding” and “Iron bar”. This suggests that boys at the ages of around 4-11 years are already participating in sport that continue to be popular in junior high and high school years, while girls are mainly participating in play-based activities.
The participation rates of young people aged 12 to 21 years in sport and physical activities were analyzed in terms of frequency, duration and intensity (Table 2-8).
Those who did not participate in any sport or physical activities at all in the previous year were categorized as “Level 0”; those who participated in sport and physical activities at least once a year but less than once a week (1 to 51 times/year) as “Level 1”; those who participated at least once a week but less than five times a week (52 to 259 times/year) as “Level 2”; those who participated at least five times a week (260 or more times/year) as “Level 3”; and those who participated at least five times a week, with a duration of 120 minutes and with more than moderate intensity as “Level 4.” Participation in sport activities during classes or events at schools were excluded from this survey.
From the survey conducted in 2021, the percentage of young people who did not participate in any sport or physical activities in the previous year (Level 0) was 19.7%, representing one in every five young people (Figure 2-3). Those who participated at least five times a week, with a duration of 120 minutes and with more than moderate intensity (Level 4) constituted 21.8% of the young people. These results confirm the polarization of participation rates for sport and physical activities. Furthermore, it becomes clear that one in four girls aged 12 to 21 has not participated in any sport or physical activities in the past year.
By school year, the proportion of young people at Level 0 was 8.9% in junior high school years, 17.5% in high school years and 25.3% in college years, indicating a general tendency to increase as school years advanced. On the other hand, “Level 4” declined as school years progressed, with 33.0% in junior high school years, 31.1% in high school years and 5.5% in college years, with a particularly large decrease from high school years to college years. It is possible to confirm the current situation that opportunities for sport and physical activities for junior high and high school students come from sport clubs at schools.
Table 2-9 shows the ranking of participation in sport and physical activities by young people aged 12-21 years (top ten sport and physical activities “often participated in” in the previous year). In 2021, “Jogging/ Running” had the highest participation rate of 23.2%, followed by “Football”, “Badminton”, “Weight training” and “Basketball”.
By gender, “Football” had the highest participation rate for boys, followed by “Jogging/Running”, “Baseball”, “Weight training” and “Basketball”, whereas “Badminton” had the highest participation rate for girls, followed by “Walking”, “Jogging/Running”, “Weight training” and “Volleyball”. For both men and women, the rates of individual activities such as “Jogging/Running”, “Weight training” and “Walking” as well as activities with relatively little physical contact with others such as “Volleyball” and “Badminton” have increased from 2019 to 2021.
