Ingar Mehus

Distinction through Sport Consumption Spectators of Soccer, Basketball, and Ski-jumping

Drawing on the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu, this study investigates the relationship between cultural capital and different forms of sport consumption by spectators of three different sports (N = 587). Main findings show a negative relationship between cultural capital and sport consumption, and a positive relationship between sport participation and sport consumption. The findings are partly at odds with previous studies, indicating a positive relationship between cultural capital and direct sport consumption. The findings are possibly explained by considering tastes as social communication in a society where mass consumption adds to the blurring of distinctive borders between different groups of social belongingness, involving the ‘cultural omnivore’ thesis.

Change in body fat during a family-based treatment of obesity in children: the relative importance of energy intake and physical activity.

Objective: The aim of the current study was to examine to what extent changes in reported energy intake and physical activity predict changes in body fat during a family-based outpatient treatment of obesity in children. Methods: Total body fat (DXA), reported energy intake (4-day diet record), and physical activity (accelerometer) was measured in 99 children (age 7–12 years, mean BMI SDS = 2.99) at baseline as well as after 6 months 2 years of treatment. Repeated measures (GLM), growth modeling, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied in the data analyses. Results: There was significant decrease in body fat, reported energy intake, and physical activity at both follow-ups (p < 0.001) compared to baseline. Changes in reported energy intake from baseline to 6 months predicted a decrease in body fat from baseline to 6 months (β = 0.68, p < 0.001). In addition, changes in reported energy intake had a strong indirect effect on body fat at 2-year follow-up, mediated by changes in body fat from baseline to 6 months (indirect β = 0.50, p < 0.001). Changes in physical activity did not predict changes in body fat during treatment. Conclusions: Changes in reported energy intake significantly affected body fat at 6 months and indirectly predicted the amount of body fat at 2-year follow-up. The indirect effect was mediated by a decrease in body fat obtained during the first phase of treatment.

Football team identification in Norway: spectators of local and national football matches

Football spectators (N=760) at two local and two international matches were surveyed with the aim of investigating how identity is created and sustained in relation to top-level sport in general, and local and national football teams in particular. Two-way between-groups analyses of variance were applied, and effect sizes calculated. There was a statistically significant main effect for gender, showing that male spectators identify more strongly with their favourite team than female spectators. The findings also include an interaction effect between gender and level of matches, indicating different effects on male and female spectators. Male spectators identify more strongly with the national team than the local team, whereas female spectators identify more strongly with the local team. Strong identification with the national team goes together with more positive attitudes towards the nation. The results are analysed within the theoretical framework of social identity theory (SIT) and self-categorization theory (SCT). Team identification is context-dependent and partly explained with reference to the principle of meta-contrast implied in SCT. Positive attitudes towards the nation are interpreted as beneficial from a nation-building point of view, but have possible negative consequences concerning the evaluation of social groups not included in the in-group.

The diffused audience of football

Using European football as context, literature dividing spectators into authentic fans and inauthentic consumers is presented as an attempt at resisting the commercialization of sport, and the development towards football as pure entertainment. The main question is whether the resistance from fans and football writers is in danger of serving the opposite of its intention, thereby contributing towards football experienced as entertainment. Utilizing the theoretical framework of Abercrombie and Longhurst (Audiences: A Sociological Theory of Performance and Imagination, London: Sage, 1998), it is concluded that spectators and football writers are part of the diffused audience of football, and that focusing on marginal and extreme groups of spectators contributes to football becoming more similar to soap operas in expression.

“You’re Not Born with Talent” Talented Girls’ and Boys’ Perceptions of Their Talents as Football Players

Generally in sports, there is a strong assumption of a connection between skill level in young age and adulthood. Studies have mainly focused on the coaches’ understanding and role in identifying and developing talent. In this article we turn our attention towards the athletes’ perspectives, interviewing talented young football players (five boys and five girls) about their perceptions of their own talent and development. The objective of the article is to investigate how boys and girls perceive their talent and to discuss how various perceptions influence coaching practice in talent development. We introduce the following questions: (a) do the players use a static or dynamic perception of their own talent and (b) do the players consider specific or general skills to be most important in their skill development? Results show that the boys have a more static perception of talent compared to the girls. Furthermore, the boys in this study stress the importance of highly specified skills. The girls have a more balanced view on what is important, but tend to stress the importance of basic skills. The study suggests two potential implications. First, the coaches should be aware of the possible vulnerability following players’ static perception of talent. Second, an exclusive focus on specified skills might make for less optimal preparation for the changing demands young players meet when moving through the different levels of play on their way to high level football. In future research it would be interesting to investigate how players with a lower skill level, not yet regarded as talent, perceive their talent and skill development.

The Importance of Adolescents’ Participation in Organized Sport According to VO2peak: A Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT Research from several countries has documented a decline in physical activity (PA) levels and in participation in organized sport with increasing age, indicating that organized sport may be of importance to adolescents’ cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine how regular participation in organized and unorganized PA affected the development of adolescents’ CRF (peak oxygen consumption [VO2peak]), when controlled for sex interaction. Method: Data on direct measures of VO2peak and participation in organized PA among adolescents organized into 3 groups (participation in organized sport, participation in unorganized PA, and no weekly PA) were collected from 76 students (39 boys and 37 girls), when they were aged 14 and 19 years old. Results: Statistically significant differences were found between VO2peak values in the 3 groups at both 14 years of age, F(2, 73) = 7.16, p < .05, ƞ2 = .170, and 19 years of age, F(2, 73) = 14.00, p < .05, ƞ2 = .300, independent of sex at both 14 and 19 years of age, F(2, 73) = 0.05, p > .05, ƞ2 = .02, and F(2, 73) = 0.05, p > .05, ƞ2 = .00. Adolescents participating in organized sport also had statistically significantly higher VO2peak values than adolescents participating in unorganized PA and those with no weekly PA, at both 14 and 19 years of age. Conclusion: From a health perspective, in terms of CRF, the findings highlight the importance of encouraging adolescents to participate in organized sport and to refrain from dropping out of organized sport programs.