SPARC Facts 1997-2001

How active do we want to be?

Young people

To see whether or not young people want to be more active, the survey asked if there are any sports or physical activities, which they are not currently doing, that they wanted to take part in. The results show that:

Around three in five boys and girls (62% and 61% respectively) are interested in doing new sports or activities.
For both boys and girls interest is greatest among 5-8-year-olds and 9-12-year-olds (66% each).
Teenagers show less interest in taking up new sports and activities than younger children, with interest levels lowest among 16-17-year-old boys (49%) and girls (52%).
Young Māori, particularly boys, and young Pacific girls show the most interest in taking up new sports and activities.
Overall, the proportion of Pacific young people who want to take up a new sport or active leisure activity (64%) is higher than the proportion of these young people who are active (52%). For Māori and European young people it is the other way around, but for young people of other ethnic groups their activity levels and their interest in taking up a new sport or active leisure activity is about the same.
The sports and physical activities young people identified they would like to do included soccer (14%), netball (13%), rugby union (11%), swimming (11%), cricket (10%) and basketball (9%).

Most young people are interested in taking up new sports and activities

Level of interest in new sports and activities	All young people %	Girls %	Boys %	Number of young people surveyed
Girls	61			1815
Boys	62			1971
5-8 years	66	64	68	1267
9-12 years	66	65	67	1100
13-15 years	57	58	56	832
16-17 years	50	52	49	587
Māori	66	62	68	711
European	61	60	61	2581
Pacific	64	69	60	215
Other ethnic groups	60	62	58	274
All young people	62	61	62	3786

Note: the survey asked if there were any sports or physical activities that the young person would like to take part in that he/she is not currently doing. The figures above exclude the people who didn't answer the question or "didn't know" the answer (around 8% of everyone surveyed).

Adults

Adults were asked if they would like to spend more time taking part in sport and physical activity and the results show that almost six out of 10 adults (57%) would like to do more. Four out of 10 people say that they are happy with the amount of time they are active and a very small number (2%) want to be less active.

Interest expressed in being active

Want to be active for:	More time	Same time	Less time	Number of adults surveyed
Women	56	42	2	6923
Men	58	40	2	5619
18-24 years	69	29	2	1266
25-34 years	67	31	2	2529
35-49 years	61	37	2	3931
50-64 years	51	47	2	2542
65+ years	32	66	2	2272
Māori	56	40	4	1621
European	57	42	1	9826
Pacific	57	37	6	431
Other ethnic groups	62	35	2	651
All adults	57	41	2	12542

Note: The figures may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Further analysis shows:

Men and women are equally interested in being more active.
Adults under 35 years express most interest in being more active and, unlike girls in their early teens, young women express a stronger interest in being more active; 70% of 18-24-year-old women said they want to be more active.
Older adults are more content with their current activity levels - around a third of men and women aged 65 years or over say they want to be more active.

Interest expressed in being active varies for men and women of different ages

A majority of adults from all ethnic groups would like to be more active, but people from “other ethnic groups” express most interest in being more active.
Europeans aged between 35-64 years are more likely to express that they want to be more active than other European adults.
Pacific adults aged 50-64 years old are more likely to want to be active at around the same level as they currently are, whereas those adults from other ethnic groups aged over 50 years, and in particular those aged 65 years or over, want to be more active.

Interest expressed in being active by men and women of different ethnic groups

Want to be active for:	Māori		European			Pacific		Other ethnic groups
	Women	Men	Women	Men		Women	Men	Women	Men
More time %	56	57	56		57	55	58	61	63
Same time %	40	39	43		41	40	35	37	34
Less time %	3	4	2		1	5	7	2	3

Interest expressed in being active by adults of different ethnic groups and ages

Want to be active for:		18-24 years	25-34 years	35-49 years	50-64 years	65+ years
Māori %	More	68	61	52	44	34
	Same	31	35	42	53	61
	Less	1	4	6	3	5
European %	More	69	68	63	53	31
	Same	30	31	35	46	66
	Less	1	1	2	1	2
Pacific %	More	69	62	52	27	31
	Same	27	33	41	60	61
	Less	4	4	7	13	8
Other ethnic groups %	More	72	69	58	52	49
	Same	24	30	39	46	50
	Less	4	1	3	2	1

Note: The sample size for Pacific adults aged 65+ years is very small. Use such figures with caution and treat them as only indicative and not conclusive.

Income and education

Adults with no secondary school or a school education, and those adults who have a lower available household income, are more likely to want to spend around the same amount of time being active than adults who have other educational qualifications and a higher available household income.

People’s interest in being more active varies with how active they are at present. People who are doing some activity, but are still considered inactive (i.e. are relatively inactive) are most likely to say that they want to be more active.

Want to be active for:	More time %	Same time %	Less time %	Number of adults surveyed
No secondary school	35	60	5	807
School education	52	45	2	5570
Tertiary educated	65	34	2	3979
Tech/Trade Cert/Prof. Training	60	38	1	1975
Other	60	38	2	174
Less than $18,000	48	49	3	2842
$18,001-$36,000	55	44	2	2856
$36,001-$60,000	63	36	2	2453
$60,001+	65	34	1	2448
All adults	57	41	2	12,542

People who do some activity, but not enough to be active, show most interest in being more active

Note: Some totals do not add up to 100% due to rounding.

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