An Examination of Sport Participation Tracking and Adult Physical Activity for Participants of the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study |
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| Authors: | Eric M Martin Larissa True Karin A Pfeiffer Shannon R Siegel Crystal F Branta Dave Wisner |
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| Institution: | 1. Kinesiology Department, Center for Physical Activity and Sport, Boise State University , Boise, ID, USA ericmmartin@boisestate.edu;3. Department of Kinesiology and Dance, New Mexico State University , Las Cruces, NM, USA;4. Kinesiology Department, Michigan State University , East Lansing, MI, USA;5. Kinesiology Department, University of San Francisco , San Francisco, CA, USA;6. Department of Health Sciences, Central Michigan University , Mount Pleasant, MI, USA |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACT Research tracking sport participation from youth to adulthood is relatively rare, as is research that tracks youth sport participation with regard to adult physical activity (PA) levels, especially in the United States. Aims of this study were: 1) To investigate the degree to which sport participation tracked across youth, adolescence, and early adulthood in a sample of participants from the Michigan State University Motor Performance Study (MPS), and 2) Determine if differences existed in their levels of adult PA relative to prior sport participation. In total, 256 (60.8%) former participants from the MPS completed follow-up surveys regarding routine sport participation and PA across the previous year. Sport participation tracked consistently from youth to college. Further, regardless of the level of youth sport participation, adult leisure time PA was relatively consistent among groups. Although the study did not directly test the influence of the MPS on subsequent adult outcomes, our findings suggest that participants’ past sport participation was not a good predictor of adult PA for those who were involved in a program that emphasized fundamental motor skills in youth. Further investigation of such programs can help to better inform their influence on adult PA. |
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| Keywords: | Childhood motor development physical activity sport |
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