Share of children meeting MVPA guidelines on 1-7 days per week in Ireland 2018

The Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study 2018 (CSPPA 2018) was a follow up to CSPPA 2010 looking at participation in sport, physical activity and Physical Education among children aged 10 to 18 on the island of Ireland. CSPPA 2018 was the first study to look at these issues in an all-island context.

For the Republic of Ireland, the 114 schools which participated in 2010 and were eligible were invited to participate. 74 of these agreed to take part, with 12 new schools being included for a total of 86 schools. This allowed 4,697 primary and post primary students to provide input. In Northern Ireland 29 schools and 1,954 primary and post primary students were involved. In total, 6,651 children aged 10 – 18 took part in the study. In addition, a small number of school administrators were interviewed about participation in sport in schools, school facilities and resources available for sport.

Physical activity is defined within the National Physical Activity Plan as ‘any bodily movement produced by the skeletal muscle which causes energy expenditure greater than at rest and which is health enhancing’.