A study led by University of Queensland researchers has found that children who often participate in sports from an early age will have better long term mental health.
Asad Khan an Associate Professor from UQ’s school of Health and Rehabilitation Science led the study, which investigated the data of more than 4,200 Australian children over an eight-year period from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children.
Constant participation in sports from childhood is connected with better mental wellbeing amongst teenagers.
Our research saw the benefits of team sports such as netball, cricket or football, and individual sports like gymnastics, karate or tennis.
We found there was a positive impact on mental health regardless of any type of sport, but children who played in a team experienced greater benefit.
This could be due to the social aspects involved such as being surrounded by supportive peers, opportunities to form friendships and working towards a collaborative goal.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, around 14% of children aged between four and eleven experienced a mental disorder in Australia, with boys more affected than girls.
The research found that children who internalize their emotions and have difficulties in socializing with their peers greatly benefit from playing sport in a team setting.
Dr. Khan said while the results showed positive outcomes for both girls and boys, more need to be done to encourage girls to get involved in team sport, mainly at a younger age.
He also mentioned that at the age of six and seven, around 59% of boys participated in team sports, compared to only 26% of girls.
Boys who played team sports experienced better health-related quality-of-life and less psychosocial difficulties, while among girls the benefits of team sport participation were less.
The reason why girls don’t get involved in spots activities could be lack of self-belief and confidence in sporting ability, or since they believe that a team sport is a male-dominant activity.
The reason could be due to a lack of opportunity for girls to participate in team sports or a lack of diversity of sports offered in schools and co-curricular programs.
Dr Khan expects that research will inform strategies to promote children’s sports participation and further investigation into why young girls are less likely to participate in team sports.
