Children's engagement in leisure time physical activity

Exploring family structure as a determinant

Bibliographic Data

ID11437228
AuthorsThomas Quarmby (0000-0002-6950-5010, Selly Oak Hospital, corresponding author), S Dagkas (0000-0002-3094-012X, University of Birmingham)
Year2010
Volume29
Issue1
Pages53-66
Publication date2010-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueLeisure Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-4367 • E-ISSN: 1466-4496
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02614360903242560
OpenAlexW2150713493
LanguageEN
Citations received42
References cited28

This paper draws on Bourdieu's key concepts in an effort to understand particular social practices and the effect of family as a social environment and determinant for participation in leisure time physical activity. As an exploratory study, the aim was to elicit children's subjective views of their engagement in leisure time physical activity settings. Adopting an interpretive perspective, six 11‐ to 14‐year‐old children from intact couple families and single parent families were interviewed in small groups, exploring lived experiences of their participation in physical activity in relation to their family structure. The study suggests that family structure plays a vital role in helping to shape children's dispositions towards physical activity. All children were subject to the transmission of parental beliefs and values towards physical activity though this was further reinforced in intact couple families through joint participation. Moreover, children from single parent families were seen to exhibit more sedentary dispositions that reflected the environment in which they reside. We argue that children's individual habitus, as bearing the experiences of their familial backgrounds, provided them with certain desires to participate in physical activity which are mediated by their family circumstance. The study suggests that family structure is becoming a more prominent issue within society, and thus, children's leisure activity from this perspective requires further research that explores this phenomenon in greater detail

Cultural capital · Developmental psychology · Habitus · Perspective (graphical · Physical activity · Social science · Sociology · Subject (documents · Medicine · Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports · Physical Education and Pedagogy · Psychology · Social Psychology · Youth Development and Social Support

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