These results could be used to plan interventions and new methods of delivery which could help to increase participation. .
Key words: Sport, Participation, Drop out, Physical Activity, Female, Barriers, Motivational Factors.
Introduction.
Currently, there is a worldwide obesity epidemic, the UK being the worst country in Europe with 1 in 4 adults now classed as obese (NHS, 2013). The results from the Health Survey England (2012) suggest that 28% of children ages 5 – 15 are overweight or obese. Lack of physical activity and leading sedentary life styles are adding to this alarming figure. Despite the physical, social and psychological benefits that are associated with taking part in regular physical activity, a large amount of adolescents are not meeting the national guidelines or more so, regularly being sedentary (Lee and Skerrett, 2001). Current literature indicates that this lack of physical activity increases through age and in particular, amongst adolescent females (Sallis, Prochaska and Taylor, 2000). Butt et al (2011) advises that these participation levels or lack of are generally linked to adolescents not always being aware of what motivates them to take part in physical activity as well as having a number of perceived barriers to participation. It was added that, in order to improve participation levels amongst this age range (specifically the female population) it was necessary to have a good understanding of the influential factors (Butt et al, 2011). This being the case, previous research has found that adolescent females feel as though personal, social and environmental barriers are the affect their participation (Rottensteiner et al, 2013). This study aims to gather information on the physical activity patterns of a sample of year 7 and year 12 females from a secondary school in West Yorkshire. The research was carried out using self-administered questionnaires which were designed according to good ethical practice.
