Understanding the Characteristics of At-Risk Youths in Guatemala: Evidence from a Sports for Human Development Program

Abstract

Guatemala is a multiethnic and multicultural country that has suffered from poverty and violence. Sports can serve as tool to foster development across the country; however, there is limited research on the use of sports as a tool for promoting broader social benefits in Guatemala. The purpose of this study was to compare sports and the health and physiological characteristics of at-risk youths in Guatemala. The research objectives were achieved through a quantitative approach and the participation of 90 youths involved in an educational organization through sports and 91 youths who have not been influenced by any organization. The results showed that urban at-risk youths involved in a sports for education organization develop more self-esteem; they have higher levels of physical activity than their peers who are not involved in an educational organization; the socioemotional competencies of self-regulation and motivation are higher in urban areas; empathy is higher in men than in women; the level of the self-perception of health is lower and health literacy higher. However, the at-risk youths who are not involved in an educational organization showed that their self-regulation was higher, and the level of health literacy was higher for all factors. This was through a set of attitudes and skills as a result of their historical development and sociocultural strategies transmitted from generation to generation to foster health and physical activity.

Evaluación institucional de la eficiencia de un programa social de educación olímpica (Institutional evaluation of the efficiency of a social Olympic education program)

“…Este es el caso de Guatemala una nación caracterizada por sus problemáticas a causa de la migración irregular (Scarnato, 2019), la violencia y los problemas económicos (McIlwaine & Moser, 2001;PNUD, 2022;Scarnato, 2019;Simon, 2021). Además, de la migración de la ruralidad a la ciudad en búsqueda de empleo y seguridad a causa del crimen organizado (Ley & Rato Barrio, 2010;Nuñez et al, 2023;Ponciano Núñez et al, 2022) que causa la cuarta tasa de homicidios más alta de Centroamérica y la quinta más alta del mundo perpetuada por jovenes (Mandigo et al, 2018). Esto ha tenido una influencia en las agencias gubernamentales y no gubernamentales para considerar el uso del deporte como una alternativa para avanzar en el desarrollo nacional.…”