The Women’s Sports Foundation today released “Go Out and Play: Youth Sports in America,” an exhaustive study of children’s participation in sports and exercise, the first to document the benefit of sports to the wellness of families.
“In addition to the powerful role sports play in shaping kids’ health, the study finds when kids play sports families are happier,” stated Women’s Sports Foundation President Aimee Mullins of the study, which found increased communication in families with active children. “The study gives parents new evidence and motivation to ensure their children play — important information since kids today often depend on their parents, schools and communities to find sports opportunities,” she continued.
The Foundation partnered with Harris Interactive to survey 2,185 third- through 12th-graders and 863 parents in this unprecedented investigation of the numbers of children playing, types of sports being played, the demographic profiles of today’s child athletes and the role of family and community in shaping kids’ physical activity.
Although the report finds children’s play linked to healthier, more content families, many parents, especially African-Americans and Hispanics, reported that schools are shortchanging their daughters.
The first study to examine sports among children from immigrant families and children with disabilities, it reports these subpopulations are in greater jeopardy of being shut out of sports. The most at-risk group — urban girls — receive far fewer opportunities to play.
About nine in 100 families (9%) have a child with a disability. Many of these parents report a lack of known accommodations for play. More than two-thirds of these parents reported that their kids would be interested in playing, but 38% said no such athletic opportunities exist.
Similar to the film “Bend it Like Beckham,” some immigrant families’ gender models may be more aligned with cultural traditions, allowing little room for girls’ sports participation. About 43% of girls from these families play sports, compared to 75% of boys.
Perhaps last in line are urban girls, 84% of whom have no physical education class in 11th and 12th grades.
To read the rest of this article and view our video and image library with print quality downloads, click here:
Contacts:
Jaime McBeth, 646-912-8099
jmcbeth@womenssportsfoundation.org