Children and Young People in Sport – Knowledge for a More Inclusive Sports Sector

What influences Norwegian children and young people's participation in organised sport – and who gets left behind? This project provides new and updated knowledge about sports participation, social inequalities, negative experiences, and disordered eating in sport.

The aim is to provide updated and in-depth knowledge about participation in sport and physical activity, and about children and young people's experiences in sport. 

The empirical foundation consists primarily of self-reported data from Ungdata and Ungdata junior – large national survey studies targeting children and young people – as well as the longitudinal study Ungdata plus, which follows more than 6,000 children from Vestfold and Telemark counties over several years.

Sub-projects

The project is organised into five sub-projects:

• Sports participation – status 2027: A broad, descriptive overview of participation in organised sport, self-directed training, and physical activity among children and young people, with a focus on national trends and sociodemographic differences.
• Social inequalities in sport: Examines how socioeconomic differences in sports participation have developed over time, and whether costly sports drive inequalities.
• Racism and other violations in sport: Maps the extent of racist incidents and other negative experiences – such as bullying and sexual harassment – among sports-active young people in Oslo.
• Children and the transition to youth sport: Examines the relationship between sports participation and quality of life over time, as well as parents' roles in children's sport.
• Body ideals, disordered eating, and sports activity: Investigates the prevalence of disordered eating among young people and how this relates to different training settings and patterns. The project also examines developments over time, from 1992 to the present day, and identifies risk groups and protective factors.

Results will be published as research reports and academic articles, and disseminated to the sports community, policymakers, and the general public.