Participation in organized sports has long been considered good for one's health, but a large survey indicates that team sports don't always lead teenagers to engage in healthier behavior.
Questionnaires answered by more than 13,000 students revealed that males who participated in team sports during the previous 12 months were more likely to engage in physical fighting during that period and to consume alcohol than were males who did not participate. But the male participants were less likely to smoke or experience depression.
A different picture emerged for females: Sports participation lowered the likelihood of all types of risky behavior among white females but had no association with risky behavior in black females except for increased binge drinking.
These results were presented by Susan M. Connor, Ph.D., at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Philadelphia.
“Sports team participation appears to have both protective and risk-enhancing associations” in males, Dr. Connor, a clinical psychologist, said in an interview. At the same time, it has strong positive associations for white females but not black females, she noted.
Dr. Connor and her colleagues at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, Cleveland, analyzed results from a Youth Risk Behavior Survey administered to 14,041 high school students, of whom 13,411 (50% males, 50% females) responded.
The survey, which defined team sports participation as playing on one or more teams (school- or community-based) during the previous 12 months, sought information on the following health risks: physical fighting in the past 12 months; depression in the past 12 months; drinking, binge drinking, and cigarette or pot smoking in the past 30 days; and fasting, taking pills, or vomiting to lose weight in the past year.
The respondents, equally distributed across grades 9-12, were 42% white, 37% Hispanic, 21% black, 3% Asian, and 16% mixed race.
In all, 60.5% of the males and 48.0% of the females reported participating on one or more teams in the past year, Dr. Connor said in her presentation.
After the researchers controlled for grade and race, they found that males who participated in team sports had a higher risk of drinking (odds ratio 1.4) and binge drinking (OR 1.4) than did males who did not participate. Females, however, showed no association between participation and drinking or binge drinking, said Dr. Connor, injury prevention research manager at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital.
Males who participated in team sports had a greater risk of fighting than did males who did not participate (OR 1.3), but a lower risk of smoking (OR 0.8). Overall, females who participated had lower risks than did non-participating females for fighting (OR 0.9), smoking (0.5), marijuana use (OR 0.7), and unhealthy weight loss practices (OR 0.9). Both boys and girls participating in sports had a lower risk of depression (OR 0.7 for both).
A comparison of white males and black males showed similar risks for fighting (OR 1.3 for whites vs. 1.4 for blacks), drinking (OR 1.4 for both), binge drinking (OR 1.3 vs. 1.6, respectively), and depression (OR 0.61 vs. 0.75).
When responses from white females were analyzed, the white participants showed lower risks than did white nonparticipants for fighting (OR 0.67), depression (OR 0.62), smoking (OR 0.47), marijuana use (OR 0.58), and unhealthy weight loss practices (OR 0.75). In comparison, black female sports participants showed no association with risky behaviors other than binge drinking (OR 1.4).
Limitations of the study included the fact that team sports participation was gauged by a single question on the survey and that the survey did not allow for analysis by socioeconomic status. Dr. Connor also noted that the study examined associations and does not imply cause/effect relationships between sports team participation and any behaviors.
Disclosures: Dr. Connor declared no financial relationships with commercial interests relevant to her presentation.