title: Daily physical activity and sports participation among children from ethnic minorities in Denmark.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Danish children from immigrant backgrounds are less physically active than children from the ethnic majority, and to investigate the possible reasons for any differences found. Accelerometer measures of physical activity as well as questionnaire data about organised sports, family demography, resources and values were collected from 594 children of whom 67 had other ethnic background than Danish. Data were collected when the children were 6-7 years old and again later when the children were 9-10 years old. It was found that children from immigrant backgrounds were not less physically active than other children when their amounts of daily physical activity were measured by direct objective measures, despite their participation rate in organised sports being much lower. Using multiple logistic regression modelling, this study showed that lack of parental experience with organised sports and lack of economic/material resources explained much of the difference in sports participation. Children of immigrant background had significant lower participation in club sports but this did not affect their overall physical activity level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Nørre Alle, Denmark. gnielsen@ifi.ku.dk
authors.forename: Glen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.forename: Bianca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hermansen
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bugge
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dencker
authors.forename: Lars Bo
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Andersen
mesh_terms: D061725:Accelerometry; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare / Q000208:ethnology*; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000145:classification / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015444:Exercise; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D010809:Physical Fitness; D011159:Population Surveillance; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012923:Social Class; D058992:Social Participation; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires