Long before the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic began in early 2020, the United States was already in the midst of another epidemic that is extremely unhealthy: children’s lack of physical activity. In the 2010s, efforts were made to get more children physically active and increase participation in youth sports to combat this epidemic. Efforts to get young people to play more sports like basketball, baseball, soccer and volleyball are about to get a different ball rolling in, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and throw a spike into things. It seemed to be effective until now. A just-released report says things have gone the other way in youth sports during the pandemic. Current state of play in 2023 Report from the Aspen Institute’s Project Play Initiative. As of last year, 2022, kids are playing team sports less often than they were four years ago. Young people were trying sports as much last year as they were before the pandemic, but they weren’t playing them as often.
More specifically, two nationally representative surveys of American youth, one commissioned by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) and the other by the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). The results show that from 2019 to 2022, the proportion of 6- to 17-year-olds who regularly participate in team sports decreased by about 6%. It decreased from 39.6% to 37.4%. This means approximately 1.2 million fewer young people will be playing team sports regularly in 2022 than in 2019. The proportion of young people who play at least one team sport a year remained about the same at 61%. But the team he plays at least once means that some people literally only get to play the team sport once in a year. And that’s different from playing sports regularly.
This ongoing reversal is likely due to what happened in 2020. It was when SARS-CoV-2 spread in a relatively uncontrolled manner that America let its collective pants down. Many companies, organizations, and programs are trying to slow this outbreak and “flatten the curve” (remember that phrase?) to give political leaders time to figure out what the heck to do. As a result, at least some operations have been suspended. Meanwhile, political leaders did not make many plans to keep children active and involved under such conditions.
Of course, these decline numbers come from surveys, and no survey is perfect. Surveying a sample of children and households is not the same as asking all children and households in the United States the same questions. However, her two studies didn’t just consist of going to a local coffee shop and asking a few questions to a few parents in line for a latte. For example, in a study commissioned by the SFIA, in 2022 he interviewed approximately 18,000 people aged 6 and older online. In the same year, NSCH was able to obtain responses from her 54,103 different households. Therefore, such samples are sufficiently large and nationally representative to mean that the observed downward trend should be taken very seriously.
However, not all the news from the survey was depressing. The percentage of boys in the age group 6-17 who regularly play sports has slightly declined from 41.2% in 2019 to 40.2% in 2022, while the percentage of girls in the same age group who play sports regularly has declined slightly. The percentage increased from 33.0%. Up to 34.5%. Households with annual incomes of less than $25,000 also rose from 20.9% to 25.8%.
Additionally, not all states were in exactly the same situation during the pandemic, both in terms of the virus and in terms of sports participation. Some states maintain higher sports participation rates than others. The best part was a pair of M&Ms representing Massachusetts and Minnesota. These two further northern states had youth sports participation rates of 62.9% and 62.8 respectively in 2020, with the age group 6 to 17 playing on a sports team or taking sports lessons. %, the highest of all 50 states. These percentages were significantly higher than the national average of 51%.
On the other end of the spectrum from these M&M states is Nevada, which had a very precarious percentage of 42%, the lowest percentage of all states. If fewer than half of the kids in your state play any type of sport, you may be playing roulette as to what chronic diseases will emerge in the near or distant future. . Their numbers have moved further south in many parts of the southeastern United States. Of the 16 states with the lowest participation rates, nine were in this Southeast region.
Nevertheless, eight states – Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, Vermont, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and New Hampshire – already have sports participation rates above 60%, and the US is on track to reach its 2030 Healthy People goal. It is expected that 63% will be achieved. Youth sports participation in his six years of this decade remaining. At the Aspen Institute’s 10th Anniversary Project Play Summit held May 17th and 18th in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Tom Farley, founder and executive director of the Aspen Institute’s Sports & Society Program, said: He appealed to leaders to achieve this 63% target by 2020.
Jon Solomon, Editorial Director of Sports & Society Program, said: The youth sports model of developing healthy children through sports has evolved over the past decade. ” Solomon added, “Yet, more is needed and it has to come from all of us. The summit has strengthened the degree of connectedness of all of us in this space. No entity. You can’t even fix the model. It must require all of us.”
Julie Foudy, co-organizer of the summit and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist, said: I strongly believe in the power of sports. ” She continued, “Sports change communities. It breaks my heart.” [considering] The number of children who cannot play multiple sports. ”
The author, Kevin Carroll, red rubber ball rules Fowdy, who is co-organizing the summit, noted how people have “used play to cope with the pandemic” and what needs to be done to increase youth sports participation. “It’s about reducing barriers and increasing access. Waving participation fees. Increasing field space and access.”
This year, 2023, has been a year of transition of sorts in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The question is whether 2023 and 2024 will be transition years to address another epidemic, the inactivity epidemic, and whether America has an opportunity for sports to solve this ongoing health and social problem. Or not.
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