Worlds apart: a comparison between physical activities among youth in Glasgow, Scotland and Dunedin, New Zealand

Against the background of increasing concern about levels of physical activity among young people, this paper reports the results of a cross-national comparison between two longitudinal studies of young people in Glasgow, Scotland and Dunedin, New Zealand, which used similar methods of assessment at 15 and 18 years of age. The comparison revealed that, on average, young people in Dunedin participated in a greater range of activities, encompassing both organised sports and informal activities such as cycling, and with greater frequency than those in Glasgow at both ages, but particularly so at age 18. The difference was especially marked for females, among whom one in three in Glasgow reported no physical activity at all at age 18. By contrast, in both sexes among those who did participate, much less difference in levels of involvement was observed between the two locations. Of 35 activities, only in respect of soccer, and only for males, did participation and involvement in Glasgow exceed that of Dunedin. Neither climatic factors, natural features of the environment, socio-economic composition, nor different proportions in single-sex/co-educational schooling explain the difference in levels of participation between the two locations. Participation rates in selected physical activities do, however, reflect different opportunity structures in Dunedin and Glasgow, with an advantage accruing to the former in respect of both school and post-school provision. Cultural factors, which underpin such differences, also appear to have an additional influence on participation, most notably in relation to the gender gap in physical activities, much bigger in Glasgow than Dunedin. To redress these differences requires an increase in levels of participation generally, particularly among females, which depends as much on a shift in values about physical activity as on the provision of better resources.