Despite the well-documented health effects of physical activity, few studies focus on the correlates of leisure-time sports and exercise participation. The present study examined correlations between adolescent sports participation and demographic factors, socioeconomic status (SES) and sociocultural factors. A school-based cross-sectional cluster sample including 6356 Danish fifth- and ninth-grade adolescents from four municipalities were included. Age (younger) and gender (boy) were associated with adolescents' sports participation. Girls were half as likely [odds ratio (OR) 0.49 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.44-0.55] to participate in sports than boys. Adolescents were more likely to participate in sports if they perceived their parents as active in exercise or sports. Adolescents with one or two unemployed parents were 0.75 (95% CI: 0.62-0.89) and 0.75 (95% CI: 0.56-1.00), respectively, less likely to participate in sports than adolescents with two employed parents. In a gender-stratified analysis, parents' occupational status was only a predictor of sports participation in girls. Differences between municipalities in adolescents' sports participation remained significant when controlled for individual factors such as gender, age, parents' background or parents' physical activity. The association between sociocultural and SES was stronger for girls than boys. In conclusion, demographics, SES and sociocultural factors were the best determinants of adolescent sport participation.

Promoting exercise on prescription: recruitment, motivation, barriers and adherence in a Danish community intervention study to reduce type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. Journal of Public Health, Springer Verlag, 2008, 17 (3), pp.187-193 AbstractObjective The aim of this study is to analyse recruitment, motivation, barriers and adherence to increasing physical activity in a community-based 1-year intervention.Research design and methods This study included a baseline investigation of 1,156 participants (67% female, 33% male), a post-intervention investigation after 4 months and a follow-up assessment after 1 year. All patients included in the study were physically inactive, had a body mass index (BMI) of less than 35 and were mobile enough to participate in physical training. The inclusion criteria are at least one of the following diagnoses: type 2 diabetes, above-normal cholesterol level (dyslipidemia) or abovenormal blood pressure (hypertension). Theory-based activities to promote physical activity and nutrition counselling were implemented, and self-report questionnaires investigated attitude, experiences and barriers towards physical activity and self-reported health. Results The findings indicated an increase in physical activity and fitness level, weight loss and lower body mass index both immediately after the training period and after 1 year. The programme led to reduced tobacco use. The recruitment of the patients is not representative of the general population. More better educated and female patients participated in the programme. Weight loss was the main motivation for participation, while weight gain was the main reason for dropping out of the programme. Patients who lived with a partner accomplished 10% more than did patients who lived alone, and patients who reported a good or very good state of health at baseline were more successful in completing the programme than were patients who reported having a "bad" state of health. The reported psychological barriers include physical barriers, emotional barriers, motivational barriers and timerelated barriers. Motivation was strengthened by the training group, and especially the overweight patients experienced coherence and meaning in the group training activities. Conclusions A theory-driven community intervention can lead to an increase in physical activity. Training with a group is beneficial for motivation and adherence.

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Non-profit associations are usually democratically organized, and this feature plays a legitimizing role for the public support to associations. This article examines which characteristics at country level, organizational level and individual level can explain variations with regard to member engagement in the association democracy in sports clubs in Europe. The statistical analyses use data on 12,755 members from 642 sports clubs in ten European countries. The findings show that the majority of the members in sports clubs participate in the association democracy, but the level and form of engagement varies considerably.At the country level, no link between the democratic strength and quality of the countries on the one hand and member engagement on the other could be identified. Instead, characteristics at the organizational and individual level were found to be relevant. More concretely, (i) the size of the sports club, (ii) the socioeconomic background of the members (gender, age and education), and (iii) the way in which the members are involved in and affiliated to the club (engaged in voluntary work, participating in social activities, etc.) were found to be significantly correlated with the engagement of members in the association democracy.

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