A summary of changes over time
Sport participation
Twelve month and four week participation rates, GB 2002
Participation in sports, games and physical activities
In 2002 three quarters of adults (had taken part in some sport, game or physical activity during the twelve months before interview. Fifty-nine per cent of adults had done so in the four weeks before interview. Excluding people whose only activity was walking, the corresponding overall participation rates were 66 per cent of adults in the last twelve months and 43 per cent of adults in the last four weeks.
In terms of participation in the last twelve months the five most popular sports, games or physical activities among adults were: - walking (46 per cent); - swimming (35 per cent); - keep fit/yoga – including aerobics and dance exercise (22 per cent); - cycling (19 per cent); and - cue sports - billiards, snooker and pool (17 per cent).
As in previous years men were more likely than women to participate in sports activities (either including or excluding walking) in the four weeks before being interviewed. In 1996, 54 per cent of men and 38 per cent of women had participated in at least one activity, excluding walking, in the four weeks before interview. By 2002 participation had fallen to just over half (51 per cent) of men compared with 36 per cent of women.
In general participation rates decreased with age. In 2002, 72 per cent of young adults (aged 16 to 19) compared with 54 per cent of adults aged 30 to 44 and 14 per cent of adults aged 70 and over had participated in at least one activity (excluding walking) in the last four weeks before interview.
Adults living in Scotland were more likely than those living in England or Wales to have participated in at least one activity in the four weeks before interview (62 per cent compared with 58 in England and 57 in Wales). The higher participation rate in Scotland was mainly due to the higher proportions who had been walking in the previous four weeks (43 per cent compared with 34 in England and 35 in Wales).
For more detailed information, please download the Sports & leisure PDF on the right-hand side of the page.
Source: Sport and Leisure module, Living in Britain 2002, published 2004
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Households