Perceived influence of power shortage and release of radiation caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake on physical activity participation

Abstract

The Toronto Charter for Physical Activity (2010) and several ational physical activity plans advocate sports participation as an mportant part of population targeted physical activity for youth. merging research evidence also suggests that sport participation n youth is linked to significant positive correlationswith academic nd behavioural performance. The purpose of this study was to ompare academic and behavioural performance between male nd female public school athletes (Total N=11,139; 38% Female) nd non-athletes (Total N=23,891; 52% Female) in a convenient, thnicity diverse, sample (grades 7–12) from the state of Texas USA). Methods:We examined the passing rates of individual athletes nd non-athletes on standardized tests (Texas Essential Knowledge nd Skills, TEKS) for math, language arts, reading, writing, science, nd social studies. We also examined the percentage of athletes nd non-athletes for being “at risk,” for dropping out of school nd for the total average number of disciplinary actions. All data ere collected from Texas school districts (N=7) with the help of eaders from the Texas High School Coaches Association (THSCA). nstitutional ReviewBoard approval fromTexas StateUniversity for uman subjects research was acquired prior to data analyses. Results: It was estimated that athletes were physically active t moderateto vigorousintensities for a minimum of 8hours er week (state practice rule limitations) and that they were ore physically active than non-athletes. Assumptionswere based n the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youth ehaviour Risk Surveillance System (YRBS) 2009 data for high chool youth in Texas, which showed that 41.2% did not play on ports teams, and only 53.4% were active at least 60minutes per ay for less than 5 days. Chi-Square statistical analyses comparing thletes to non-athletes showed that athletes scored significantly etter (p <0.05) on all standardized tests compared to non-athletes passing rate ranges ranged from 77.1% to 92.9% versus 27.7% to 6.5% respectively). Athletes were at lower risk for dropout comared to non-athletes (35.6% versus 49.24%; p<0.05), and they had ewerdisciplinaryactions (meanof0.85perathletesperyearversus .23 for non-athletes; p <0.05). Discussion: Our results support the research findings of othrs that participation in school sports is positively correlated to etter academic and behavioural performances for athletes comared to non-athletes. Further studies are warranted to determine f there are causal associations between academic and behavioural erformances between athletes and non-athletes.