Physical Activity Preference of Middle School Students

Abstract

1790 Literature shows that one of the most important principles for lifelong physical activity is that physical activity programs for young people are most likely to be effective when they emphasize participation in activities that young students enjoy (Centers for Disease control and Prevention, 1997). Research also indicates that the middle school age is the critical time for developing lifelong physical activity. Middle school boys and girls both differ and agree on their interests for specific physical activities in US (e.g., Greenwood, Stillwell, and Byars, 2001). However, it is not clear whether the countries with different culture, east and west culture for example, show the same patterns of the development of lifelong physical activity at the critical age. PURPOSE: To investigate the similarity and difference of the physical activity preference of middle school students in US and Korea, and to discuss the implications of the physical activity preference for middle school children. METHODS: Two data sets were collected based on 23 common physical activities in middle schools in US and Korea (the Activity Interest Inventory (AII), Greenwood et al., 2001). In the US data, 751 middle school boys (388) and girls (363) from a mid-southern state completed the Activity Interest Inventory AII survey form. The Korean data were collected from a random sample of middle school students in Seoul (n = 779, 392 boys and 387 girls). The participants were asked to respond by indicating whether they had a strong interest, were undecided, or had little interest in each of the activities. The compositional data analysis and the CODA program (Aitchison, 1986; Liu & Zhu, 2002) were used to investigate the physical activity patterns of US and far east middle school children and identify the similarities and differences of the physical activity preferences. RESULTS: In general, the results showed that the US middle school children are more interested in physical activities than the children in Korea (Loglikelihood ratio = 90.25, p<0.01). The preference pattern of the US middle school girls was significantly different from their peers in Korea (Loglikelihood ratio = 67.35, p<0.01), and so was the preference pattern of the boys (Loglikelihood ratio = 77.35, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The lower preference to most of the physical activities in Korea middle school children may suggest that physical educators and administrators in Korea may need more effort to promote the physical activities to middle school age children.