Barriers to taking part in more physical activities among young people in New Zealand
2023, % of young people aged 8-17
| Response | % of young people |
|---|---|
| Another reason | 2.5% |
| Because of Covid-19 | None |
| Can't fit it in with other family member's activities | 12.3% |
| Do enough already | None |
| Health issue | 0.3% |
| I already do a good amount of physical activity | 0.9% |
| I am injured | 5.3% |
| I am not interested in sport or physical activity | 0.2% |
| I don't feel safe | None |
| I don't have the equipment I need | 9.9% |
| I don't like other people seeing me being physically active | 6.9% |
| I don't want to fail | 7.3% |
| I find physical activity boring | None |
| I have a disability that prevents me from participating | 0.2% |
| I have no one to do it with | 12.6% |
| I'm not confident enough | 11.1% |
| I'm not fit enough | 10.2% |
| I'm too sick | 0.7% |
| I'm too tired / don't have the energy | 18.6% |
| I need to have some downtime for rest, play and fun | 0.1% |
| I prefer to do other things | 17.4% |
| It's school holidays | 0.9% |
| It's too hard to motivate myself | 18.7% |
| It's winter | 0.1% |
| My family can't afford it | 11.0000000000000001% |
| My friends aren't physically active | 7.8% |
| My parents want me to focus on my schoolwork / other activities | 8.8% |
| My school doesn't offer physical activities I'm interested in | 8.1% |
| No places nearby to do what I want to do | 10.1% |
| Not enough PE offered at school | 11.9999999999999996% |
| Other people discourage me from being physically active | None |
| Parents working/too busy | 0.2% |
| PE / fitness classes at school are not fun | 7.3% |
| Schoolwork/homework takes up most of my time | 0.4% |
| Spend too much time on my computer/device/video games | None |
| The season hasn't started yet | 1.1% |
| The weather | 20.000000000000001% |
| Too busy | 31.9% |
| Too hard to get to training, games or competitions | 8.1% |
| Would like to do more sport but can't fit it in with other sports commitments | 0.2% |
Notes
Young people aged 8 to 17 were asked the following question:
Q23: Why are you not doing as much physical activity as you would like? / Why do you not want to do more than you are currently doing?
Definitions
Sport: activities undertaken in a competition or tournament or informally, and individuals differ in their degree of competitiveness irrespective of how they participate.
Active recreation: all activities not considered to be sport. For adults - physical activity done specifically for the purpose of sport, exercise or recreation; for young people the word ‘recreation’ was changed to ‘fun’ and PE was also included.
Data calculation/treatment
To account for biases in the sample design and non-response bias, the data was weighted before reporting. The purpose of weighting was to adjust the sample to represent the overall New Zealand population, using the 2018 Census.
For more information
Data provided by
Dataset name
Active NZ Survey: Main report data tables 2023
Webpage:
https://sportnz.org.nz/resources/active-nz-snapshot-of-the-participation-landscape-2023/
How to find the data
At URL provided, under 'Report and data tables' menu, download 'Main data tables'.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: Active NZ Survey: Main report data tables 2023
From the dataset Active NZ Survey: Main report data tables 2023, this data was extracted:
- Sheet: Current_Section 5_YP
- Range:
C12:BE55 - Provided: 2,279 data points
This data forms the table Sport - Hurdles in sport and active recreation among young people 2023.
Dataset originally released on:
June 2024
About this dataset
Sport NZ’s Active NZ Survey provides a point-in-time snapshot of participation in sport and active recreation explored through the lenses of age, gender, ethnicity and deprivation.
Purpose of collection
Sport New Zealand (Sport NZ) is mandated to monitor New Zealanders’ participation in physical activity. One of Sport NZ’s functions is to “promote and advocate the importance of participation in physical activity by all New Zealanders for their health and wellbeing”. This includes targeting specific population groups such as Pacific peoples, women, older New Zealanders and people with disabilities, as well as ensuring sport, recreation and physical activity are culturally appropriate for Māori.
Method of collection/Data provider
This report focuses on:
• how much participation happens in any given week, how many people are participating, and who they are
• how people participate
• how young people allocate their time spent in organised and informal participation
• what motivates participation
• what the barriers are to participation.