CHILDREN'S PARTICIPATION IN ORGANISED SPORT AND DANCING, VICTORIA

This article focuses on participation in organised sport and selected leisure activities including dancing, for children who usually reside in Victoria. Dancing has been included in this article because it is a popular organised physical activity for girls. All data presented is from the 2009 survey of Children’s Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities (cat. no. 4901.0) conducted throughout Australia as part of the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Monthly Population Survey. The survey collected information on participation of children aged 5 to 14 years in selected organised sports outside of school hours during the 12 months prior to interview, and on participation in selected leisure activities outside of school hours during the most recent two school weeks prior to interview. Please note that all data and totals presented in the following article are for Victoria, only.


Sex and age

In 2009, almost three quarters (475,800 or 72%) of children aged 5 to 14 years in Victoria participated in at least one organised sport (including dancing) outside of school hours (during the 12 months prior to interview) that had been organised by a school, club or association. Participation rates in organised sports for boys and girls varied across the age groups. Overall the participation rate was higher for boys than girls (73% and 71% respectively), with the largest difference being in the age group 12 to 14 years (77% and 67% respectively). In the age group 9 to 11 years, girls had a higher participation rate than boys (80% and 77% respectively) while participation rates for boys and girls aged 5 to 8 were the same (both 67 %). Overall, children aged 9 to 11 years had the highest participation rate (79%) followed by children aged 12 to 14 years (72%) and children aged 5 to 8 years (67%).

Most popular organised sports

In 2009, the most popular sport for children aged 5 to 14 years in Victoria was swimming with a participation rate of 23%, followed by Australian rules football (19%) and dancing (15%). In the article, the most popular sport is defined to be the one with the highest participation rate.

The most popular sport for boys was Australian rules football (35%), followed by swimming (20%) and indoor/outdoor basketball (17%). Dancing (27%) was the most popular physical activity for girls followed by swimming (25%) and netball (19%).

Swimming (34%) was the most popular sport among Victorian children aged 5 to 8 years.

For children aged 9 to 11 years, swimming (22%) was also the most popular sport, followed by Australian rules football (21%) and indoor and outdoor basketball (16%).

Australian rules football was the most popular sport for children aged 12 to 14 years with a participation rate of 22% followed by basketball (indoor and outdoor) (20%) and tennis, both indoor and outdoor (14%).

Selected other activities

Information on children's participation in a range of selected activities other than organised sport and dancing in the two weeks prior to the survey (outside of school hours), was also collected. During that two week period the selected activities with the highest participation rates for children aged 5 to 14 in Victoria were:

• 96% (636,000) of children had watched television, DVDs or videos
• 84% (554,000) of children had spent time on other screen-based activities, such as using the computer or Internet, playing games on a games console or mobile phone, and creating music playlists or viewing photos on an MP3 player
• 78% (513,200) of children had done homework or other study.

The participation rates for selected other activities varied across the different age groups. Children's participation in skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter was higher for 5 to 8 year olds (57%), however, was comparatively lower (26%) for 12 to 14 year olds. Bike riding was also lower in the older age groups (75% for 5 to 8 years olds and 54% for 12 to 14 year olds).

Nearly two-thirds (64%) of children aged 5 to 8 years participated in art and crafts while the participation rate was 24% for children aged 12 to 14 years. In contrast, children's participation in other screen-based activities was 75% for children aged 5 to 8 years compared with 90% for children aged 12 to 14 years. A higher proportion of children in the 12 to 14 age group participated in homework or other study compared to children aged 5 to 8 (89 % and 64 % respectively).

1.1 Children participating in selected other activities(a), Victoria, By age - 2009
	Number ('000)				Participation rate (%)
Selected other activities	5-8 years	9-11 years	12-14 years	Total	5-8 years	9-11 years	12-14 years	Total
Skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter	148.8	106.3	52.0	307.1	57	54	26	47
Bike riding	193.9	129.6	109.8	433.4	75	65	54	66
Watching TV, DVDs or videos	246.8	192.2	197.1	636.0	95	97	97	96
Other screen-based activities(b)	193.6	176.9	183.5	554.0	75	89	90	84
Art and craft	166.7	91.9	49.7	308.3	64	46	24	47
Reading for pleasure	179.9	153.8	139.9	473.7	69	78	69	72
Homework or other study for school	165.2	166.2	181.9	513.2	64	84	89	78
(a) Children aged 5 to 14 years who participated in selected other activities outside of school hours during the 12 months prior to interview in April 2009.
(b) Any screen-based activities aside from watching TV, DVDs and videos. This may include, but is not limited to, using the computer or Internet, playing games on a games console or mobile phone, and creating music playlists or viewing photos on an MP3 player.
Source: Children's Participation in Cultural and Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2009 (cat. no. 4901.0).

While participation rates were similar for boys and girls for some leisure activities (eg. watching TV, DVDs and videos) they varied for others. Boys were more likely to participate in skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter, 54% compared with 39% for girls. Boys also had a higher participation rate for bike riding when compared with girls (70% and 61% respectively) as well as for participation in other screen-based activities (87% and respectively 81%). In contrast, girls were more likely to participate in reading for pleasure (80%) and art and craft activities (59%) than boys (64% and 35% respectively).

1.2 Children participating in selected other activities(a), Victoria, By sex - 2009
	Number ('000)			Participation rate (%)
Selected other activities	Males	Females	Persons	Males	Females	Persons
Skateboarding, rollerblading or riding a scooter	182.4	124.7	307.1	54	39	47
Bike riding	236.9	196.5	433.4	70	61	66
Watching TV, DVDs or videos	326.7	309.3	636.0	96	96	96
Other screen based activities(b)	293.6	260.4	554.0	87	81	84
Art and craft	119.8	188.4	308.3	35	59	47
Reading for pleasure	215.5	258.2	473.7	64	80	72
Homework or other study for school	255.2	258.0	513.2	75	80	78
(a) Children aged 5 to 14 years who participated in selected other activities outside of school hours during the 12 months prior to interview in April 2009.
(b) Any screen-based activities aside from watching TV, DVDs and videos. This may include, but is not limited to, using the computer or Internet, playing games on a games console or mobile phone, and creating music playlists or viewing photos on an MP3 player.
Source: Children's Participation in Cultural Leisure Activities, Australia, April 2009 (cat. no. 4901.0).

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