Abstract
BackgroundParticipation in sport and physical activity could minimise the inflated risk of poor physical health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents. This review aimed to synthesise existing quantitative and qualitative literature regarding barriers and facilitators to physical activity and sports participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.MethodsLiterature was systematically searched to include studies reporting barriers or facilitators to physical activity and/or sports participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0–18 years. Using a pre-established taxonomy based on the social-ecological model, a deductive analysis was performed. Quality appraisal was performed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool.ResultsOf 3440 unique articles, nine studies were included with n = 10,061 total participants. Of the nine included studies one reported on participants from urban areas, two from regional and three from remote areas. Three were from representative samples of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. Barriers were reported in all nine studies: 18 individual, 9 interpersonal, 27 community and 4 at the policy level (58 total); Facilitators were reported in five studies: 12 individual, 11 interpersonal, 11 community and 3 policy level (37 total).ConclusionsResearch in this area is lacking with some states in Australia not represented and small samples. Strategies for improving participation in sport and physical activity by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents need to integrate a comprehensive identification of barriers and facilitators with a social-ecological understanding of how community and cultural factors can impact individual participation.
Highlights
Participation in sport and physical activity could minimise the inflated risk of poor physical health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents
There was no limitation on the country where the research was performed, but the research participants had to be Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents
There were five studies reporting barriers and facilitators derived from thematic analysis [35, 37,38,39,40] and four reporting quantitatively measured barriers and facilitators [26, 34, 41, 42]
Summary
Participation in sport and physical activity could minimise the inflated risk of poor physical health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adolescents. This review aimed to synthesise existing quantitative and qualitative literature regarding barriers and facilitators to physical activity and sports participation in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Sport and physical activity (PA) are important to many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Participation in sport and PA for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People is often paramount to belonging and taking part in cultural activities [3]. The modern culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sport is no more evident than with the participation in various State and National, Aboriginal National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL), netball and cricket carnivals for men, women and children, which are large cultural events [4,5,6].
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