Abstract
ABSTRACTThe aim of the study was to know the factors that influence boys and girls’ perceptions for performing physical activity during playground recess from their own perspective. Ninety-eight schoolchildren aged 8–11 years from five schools from Cuenca (Spain) participated in 22 focus groups and carried out 98 drawings following the socioecological model as a theoretical framework. A content analysis of the transcripts from the focus groups and drawings was carried out by three researchers. Results showed that, in spite of boys and girls identified same barriers, there were gender differences in their perceptions. Gender socialization was the key as central category and helped to understand these differences. Boys preferred play football and this sport had a monopoly on the recess space. Weather was a barrier for boys. Girls and boys, who did not play football, were relegated to peripheral areas and lack of materials was a barrier for them. Teachers were a barrier for all children who did not play football. Thus, in order to promote recess physical activity, researchers, teachers and educational policy makers should take into account gender socialization and promote inclusive non-curricular physical activity in schools.
Highlights
Physical activity during childhood has been associated with physical, psychological and social benefits (Eime, Young, Harvey, Charity, & Payne, 2010; Janssen & Leblanc, 2010)
Recess offers children some opportunities to get the minimum levels of recommended physical activity (Beighle, Morgan, Le Masurier, & Pangrazi, 2006; Huberty et al, 2011; Ridgers, Stratton, & Fairclough, 2006) as well as chances to interact with their peers (Blatchford, Baines, & Pellegrini, 2003)
The factors that influence boys and girls’ physical activity during playground recess were based on five levels of influence following the socioecological model: the schoolchild and his or her biological characteristics; her or his peers and teachers; conflicts and lack of space; playground organization, rules and weather; and, gender socialization (Figure 1). Both boys and girls included aspects of these five levels of influence as barriers to physical activity, but we found some gender-based differences in their perceptions and importance, which we explain below
Summary
Physical activity during childhood has been associated with physical, psychological and social benefits (Eime, Young, Harvey, Charity, & Payne, 2010; Janssen & Leblanc, 2010). Three previous studies have explored children’s barriers for physical activity during recess from their own perspective using qualitative approaches (Parrish, Yeatman, Iverson, & Russell, 2012; Pawlowski, TjørnhøjThomsen, Schipperijn, & Troelsen, 2014; Stanley, Boshoff, & Dollman, 2012); only one was focused on the gender perspective (Pawlowski et al, 2014), and none have been carried out in Mediterranean countries These studies identified barriers related to the individual (skills), social environment (lack of facilities to play or teacher support, bullying), physical environment (lack of spaces/equipment, adverse weather conditions) and organizational environment (school policy, recess duration) without considering gender differentiation. We did not have any pre-establish hypothesis regarding gender differences, it is a significant variable in environmental and development studies (Gill, 2002) and should be taken into account when research focuses in physical activity preferences and motivations (Chalabaev, Sarrazin, Fontayne, Boiché, & Clément-Guillotin, 2013)
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