Social support for youth physical activity

Background: Whilst evidence exists for the influence of encouragement on physical activity participation, the diversity of support sources and the type of physical activity examined previously is limited. This study examined the importance of perceived encouragement from parents, siblings/cousins, friends, and schools on participation levels across three time-specific activity opportunities that are available during a school day (after-school physical activities, lunchtime activity, and active transportation to and from school). Methods: A cross-sectional sample of 12-18 year old high school students) were recruited from low SES schools within South Auckland, New Zealand and categorised as either Junior (Years 9-11) or Senior (Years 12 & 13) students. Participants reported their physical activity levels and quantity of encouragement received from their parent(s), friend(s), sibling(s)/cousin(s), and school to be active. For each physical activity variable participants were dichotomized as being either “active” or “less active”. For each social support source, participants were grouped into either receiving “high” or “low” levels of support. Binary logistic regression analyzes were conducted to calculate odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Conclusion: The importance of encouragement from parents, siblings, friends, and schools on physical activity is dependent on the time-specific activity examined. It is clear that proximal social networks need to be considered during the development of physical activity promotion strategies.