Exercise as it relates to Disease/Sports participation and health-related behaviours among US youth

This Wiki Page is a University assignment in which the article Pate et al. (2000) Sports Participation and Health-Related Behaviors Among US Youth is critically appraised. What is the background to this research? "Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by rapid physical, psychological, and social growth"Viner R. Ozer E. Marmot M. Resnick M. Fatusi A. Currie C. Adolescence and the Social Determinants of Health. The Lancet. 2012; 379 (9826): 1641-1652. and whilst there are many factors that lead to delinquency, participating in team sports has always thought to increase pro-social behaviour in adolescents by providing a safe environment away from negative influencesTaliaferro L. Rienzo B. Donovan K. Relationships Between Youth Sports Participation and Selected Health Risk Behaviours from 1999 to 2007. Journ of School Health. 2010 July 6; 80 (8): 399-410.. Pate et al. explores how sports participation in ethnic adolescents affects pro- and anti-social behavioursPate R. Trost S. Levin S. Dowda M. Sports Participation and Health-Related Behaviours Among US Youth. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000 September; 154: 904-911.. It is assumed that exercise alone provides many health benefits both physical and mentalPenedo F. Dahn J. Exercise and Well-Being: A Review of Mental and Physical Health Benefits Associated with Physical Activity. Current Opinion in Psychiatry. 2005 March; 18 (2): 189-193., however, adhering to sporting guidelines and a lack of spare time due to trainings are also contributing factors to pro-social behaviour. This nationally (United States) representative study has not been observed previously and provides valuable information on the affects of participating in team sports. Where is the research from? Pate et al. analyses data from the 1997 Centres of Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behaviour Survey by using a 3-stage cluster sampling procedure to produce a nationally represented sample of 9th to 12th grade student from public and private schools. Of the four authors, three are from the Department of Exercise Science and Prevention Research Centre and Dr Levin is from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics. The University of South Carolina and the School of Public Health Columbia were also involved in the analysis of the study, all of whom are individual from any bias to the findings. What kind of research was this? Pate el al. is a quantitative cross-sectional study that utilises one-time self-reported survey data. Students were required to recall information about their participation in activities ranging from the past three to 12 months (1997). The concluding findings aline with those of other studies including Hastad et al.Hastad D. Segrave J. Pangrazi R. Petersen G. Youth Sport Participation and Deviant Behaviour. Sociol of Sport Journ. 1984; 1 (4): 366-373. and Ponsoda et al.Ponsoda F. Carbonell A. Cortell-Tormo J. Lloret V. Andreu E. The Relationship Between Out-of-School Sports Participation and Youth Development. University of Alicante: Department of Physical Education and Sports; 2012. which indicate a negative association between sports participation and delinquency. What did the research involve? The 88-item Youth Risk Behaviour Survey was administered in school classrooms by trained administrators to over 16000 students. Of these, 87.4% were included in the analysis of those approximately 39% were American students, 31% were African-American students and 30% were Hispanic students. Those who described themselves as Asian or Pacific Islander, Native American or Alaskan Native, or other were excluded due to small numbers. All analyses were performed using an SAS version of SUDAAN where males and females were analysed separately. The survey included questions about participation in sports teams, vigorous physical activity, dietary habits, substance abuse, sexual activity, violence and weight loss. Sports participation was defined as "playing on one or more sports teams run by the school or by organisations outside of the school during the past 12 months". The methodology of this research has low reliability and validity as data has been interpreted from self-reported surveysBaird S. Özler B. Examining the Reliability of Self-Reported Data on School Participation. Journ of Dev Economics. 2012 May; 98 (1): 89-93. which asks students to recall information about their activities from as early as 12 months prior. There are also limitations to the assumptions that can be deduced from this research as a proportion of student's data - those stated above and surveys that had missing information including: age, sex, ethnicity, participation in school sports, participation in sports teams run by organisations outside of school, and participation in vigorous activity - were not included. What were the basic results? In Pate el at. it was observed that 62.5% of high-school students reported participating in one or more school and/or non-school sports teams, with male students (69.9%) being more likely to participate in sports than female students (53.4%). Participation between the three main ethnicities studied (American, African-American and Hispanic students) was approximately 57.7% each. As per the table below, female and male sports participants were reported more likely to consume fruit and vegetables than those who did not participate in sports, and engaged in more vigorous physical activity (at least 20 minutes per day) in the last seven days than their counterparts. It was also less likely for both male and female sports participants to report cigarette smoking and use of marijuana or cocaine. For females participating in sport; having sexual intercourse during their lifetime, having sexual intercourse during the past three months and contemplating or attempting suicide was less likely than females who did not partake in sport. Males participating in sport were also less likely to report taking illegal drugs, sniffing glue, contemplating suicide, carrying a weapon or trying to lose weight than males who did not participate in sport. In regards to ethnicities; "African-American sports participants were more likely than non-participants to report illegal drug use", and "Hispanic female sports participants were more likely than nonparticipants to carry a weapon and/or use steroids". American male sports participants were also more likely than nonparticipants to report having sexual intercourse during their lifetime, having sexual intercourse with multiple partners, and/or contemplating suicide. Weighted Percentages (%) for Selected Health-Related Behaviours Among High-School Students by Participation in Team Sports +FemalesMalesParticipationNon-ParticipationParticipationNon-ParticipationDietary HabitsDid not eat fruit or drink fruit drink13.425.312.222.5Did not eat salad or vegetables31.443.434.443.9Did eat fatty foods60.864.976.174.2Vigorous Physical ActivityRegular vigorous physical activity71.235.582.249.0Substance AbuseAlcohol use48.049.553.755.2Binge drinking29.428.239.138.3Smoking32.139.334.844.6Marijuana use18.225.127.434.8Sniffed glue/spray cans13.415.116.023.2Chewing tobacco/snuff1.91.018.214.2Cocaine use1.33.53.15.4Other illegal drug use11.917.716.323.4Steroid use1.62.23.64.0Sexual ActivitySexual intercourse ever41.155.248.651.4Sexual intercourse in the past 3 months31.543.033.835.4Multiple partners in the past 3 months5.87.310.712.5ViolencePhysical fight injury2.01.74.24.5Carry a weapon5.87.626.631.7Consider suicide23.029.112.219.1Attempt suicide9.012.53.54.8Weight LossTrying to loss weight61.758.720.628.0Vomit or use laxatives or pills13.311.93.64.1 What conclusions can we take from this research? Overall, Pate et al. interpreted that "sports participation is highly prevalent among US high school students, and is associated with numerous positive health behaviours and few negative health behaviours". Clark et al. reviewed whether participation in sport would contribute to increased prosocial behaviours and decreased drug and alcohol consumption and observed that sports participation in adolescents is related to self-esteem, self-regulation, life skills and pro-social behaviour, with very little studies stating any negative impacts of participation in sportClark H. Camiré M. Wade T. Cairney J. Sport Participation and its Association with Social and Psychological Factors known to Predict Substance Use and Abuse Among Youth: A Scoping Review of Literature. Intern Review of Sport and Exercise Psych. 2015; 8 (1); 224-250.. While adolescent participation in sport encourages positive health-related behaviours, there are many factors that contribute to anti-social behaviour including smoking during pregnancy, divorce, teenage parenthood and social disadvantage that participation in sport cannot reduceJaffee S. Strait L. Odgers C. From Correlates to Causes: Can Quasi-Experimental Studies and Statistical Innovations Bring Us Closer to Identifying the Causes of Anti-Social Behaviour? Psych Bulletin. 2012 March; 138 (2): 272-295.. Practical advice It is recommend that exercise and participation in sport occurs across the whole of one's life from childhood to adulthood as there are many known benefits such as decreased risk of cardiovascular diseaseLiu Y. Lee D. Li Y. Zhu W. Zhang R. Sui X. Lavie C. Blair S. Associations of Resistance Exercise with Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2019 March; 51 (3): 499-508., decreased association with anti-social behaviours, and a reduction in depressive and anxious symptomsCarek P. Laibstain S. Carek S. Exercise for the Treatment of Depression and Anxiety. Int Journ of Psych in Med. 2011 January 31; 41 (1): 15-28.. Participating in team sports also provides a social aspect to people's lives which is yet another mental health benefit. If you wish to begin exercising or participating in sport, it is advised that you visit your General Practitioner to complete a Pre-Exercise Screening before commencing any activity. Further information/resources Exercising for our mental health during to Covid-19 How to look after yourself Peer pressure and fitting in The importance of physical activity Kids help line References