RST Profile: Manawatu

In this section, comparisons between the findings for the Manawatu region and New Zealand¹² are presented.

Popular Activities

• The 10 most popular activities for adults in the Manawatu region were the same as those for all New Zealand adults.
• Tramping and hunting were on the 10 most popular activities list for men in the Manawatu region, but not on the list for New Zealand men.
• Callisthenics was on the 10 most popular activities list for women in the Manawatu region, but not on the list for New Zealand women.

Organised Competition/Event Participation, Club/Centre Involvement and Instruction

• Compared with New Zealand adults, a similar percentage of adults in the Manawatu region:
• were members of clubs or centres in order to take part in sport and recreation activities (New Zealand: 34.9%; Manawatu: 30.7%); and
• received instruction from a coach, instructor, teacher or trainer to improve their performance (New Zealand: 39.9%; Manawatu: 34.4%).
• Adults in the Manawatu region were significantly less likely than New Zealand adults to:
• have participated in at least one organised competition or event (New Zealand: 36.9%; Manawatu: 26.2%).

Volunteering

• The level of volunteering for all adults in the Manawatu region (19.2%) was similar to the level for New Zealand adults (25.3%).

Physical Activity Levels

• The percentage of adults in the Manawatu region who achieved the national physical activity guideline was similar to the percentage for New Zealand adults (New Zealand: 48.2%; Manawatu: 43.6%).

12 Findings for New Zealand adults can be found in the SPARC (2008) report titled Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity Participation Among New Zealand Adults: Key Results of the 2007/08 Active New Zealand Survey. This report is available at www.sparc.org.nz.