title: Community size and sport participation across 22 countries.
abstract: The objective of this study was to examine, across 22 countries, the association between community size and individual sport, team sport, and exercise participation. Hierarchal non-linear Bernoulli modeling is used to examine the association between community size (100,000-10,000; <10,000) and (a) individual sport, (b) team sport, and (c) exercise participation. After controlling for country-level clustering and demographic variables, those residing a community with between 100,000 and 10,000 residents are more likely to participate in individual sport [odds ratio (OR) = 1.14; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.05-1.23] while residing in a community with less than 10,000 residents is unrelated (OR = 1.06; 95% CI = 0.96-1.19). Those residing in communities with between 100,000 and 10,000 residents were more likely to participate in team sport (OR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.01-1.45) while residing in a community with less than 10,000 residents is unrelated (OR = 1.02; 95% CI = 0.88-1.18). Residing in a community with between 100,000 and 10,000 residents is unrelated to exercise participation (OR = 0.97; 95% CI = 0.89-1.7), while residing in a community with less than 10,000 residents is negatively related to exercise participation (OR = 0.86; 95% CI = 0.79-0.93). These findings provide novel evidence that communities between 100,000 and 10,000 residents are related to increased sport participation, particularly team sport participation.
authors.affiliation: IDPhD Program, SILK Lab, Life Science Centre, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Balish
authors.affiliation: Environmental Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rainham
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blanchard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001118:Argentina; D001315:Australia; D005060:Europe; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D008875:Middle Aged; D010679:Philippines; D011156:Population Density; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D058992:Social Participation; D013177:Sports / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Bernoulli models; Birthplace effect; city size; cross-country