title: Monitoring activities of teenagers to comprehend their habits: study protocol for a mixed-methods cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Efforts to increase physical activity in youth need to consider which activities are most likely to be sustained over time in order to promote lifelong participation in physical activity. The Monitoring Activities of Teenagers to Comprehend their Habits (MATCH) study is a prospective cohort study that uses quantitative and qualitative methods to develop new knowledge on the sustainability of specific physical activities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eight hundred and forty-three grade 5 and 6 students recruited from 17 elementary schools in New Brunswick, Canada, are followed-up three times per year. At each survey cycle, participants complete self-report questionnaires in their classroom under the supervision of trained data collectors. A sub-sample of 24 physically active students is interviewed annually using a semi-structured interview protocol. Parents (or guardians) complete telephone administered questionnaires every two years, and a health and wellness school audit is completed for each school.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MATCH will provide a description of the patterns of participation in specific physical activities in youth, and enable identification of the determinants of maintenance, decline, and uptake of participation in each activity. These data will inform the development of interventions that take into account which activities are the most likely to be maintained and why activities are maintained or dropped.
authors.affiliation: Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick, Pavillon J.-Raymond-Frenette, 15, rue des Aboiteaux, Moncton, NB E1A 3E9, Canada. mathieu.f.belanger@usherbrooke.ca
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bélanger
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Caissie
authors.forename: Jacinthe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Beauchamp
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: O'Loughlin
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sabiston
authors.forename: Michelina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mancuso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004779:Environment Design; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009509:New Brunswick; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D010806:Physical Education and Training / Q000458:organization & administration; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires