Childhood Physical Activity Involvement in Active and Inactive Female Adults

Current trends show progressive declines in levels of physical activity from childhood through adolescence and adulthood, most notably for females. The current study examined organized activity involvement in active and inactive females (age 18) using retrospective data. Results indicated that active females participated in significantly more physical activities than inactive females from age 6 to age 18. No significant differences were found between groups for non-physical activities. In addition, parents of active and inactive females were the most influential factor in initiating physical activity. However, parents of active females initiated more physical activity involvement than did parents of inactive females. Results also indicate that certain periods in childhood and adolescence appear to be critical for developing long-term physical activity habits.

Application and Reliability of the Retrospective Interview Procedure to Trace Physical Activity

This paper reports the results of two studies. The purpose of the first study was to determine if lifestyle variables and past involvement in physical activity was related to current activity levels in master athletes and sedentary older adults. Retrospective interviews were conducted with 12 master athletes and 12 sedentary older adults. Results demonstrated that education level, spouse participation, smoking, and recent physical activity levels were indicators of current involvement. The second study investigated the reliability of the data collected in the retrospective interviews. Similar to results with younger samples, we confirm that lifestyle variables and physical activity involvement could be accurately recalled for a period of 25 years, making this tool a useful addition for the study of physical activity in older adults.