Physical activity participation and the youth: A review of correlates based on the social-ecological framework

Abstract

The major objective of this review was to identify and summarize the current literature that used the social-ecological model to address factors associated with young people’s physical activity participation. A review of the literature was undertaken using a reference between Jan 2004 and Nov 2012, based primarily on the Medline and PubMed; SPORTDiscus; PsychInfo; Cochrane; CINAHL; ScienceDirect; Web of Knowledge; and Social SciSearch databases. Only those original papers that explicitly used the social-ecological framework to analyze factors associated with physical activity participation in children and adolescents were included. A total of five original articles were deemed relevant to the topic. Current evidence suggests that individual factors (self-efficacy and fun), social environmental factors (peer support, parents’ and families’ support, physical education teachers’ support and economic status of the family), physical environmental factors (equipment availability, school facilities and location), and policy factors (higher level policies, school implementation strategies, teacher supervision, safety rules, sports equipment accessibility and play areas accessibility) would all affect young people’s physical activity participation. Synthesis: To date, only a few studies have used the social-ecological framework to analyze factors affecting physical activity participation behavior in young people. Further quantitative studies are essential to confirm how these factors interact and affect physical activity participation in the younger generation.