Jan Toftegaard Støckel

Sport for Children and Youth in the Scandinavian Countries

In the course of less than 100 years, childrens sport in the Scandinavian countries has been going through a remarkable transition. By the turn of the twentieth century, voluntary sport participation was primarily an adult domain, and childrens opportunities for participation were generally limited to a small selection of sports and primarily through the public school system. Today, childrens sport is an important public health and welfare issue in all of the Scandinavian countries, and children are far more sport active than adults, and the majority of childrens sports participation takes place in voluntary sport clubs or in commercial sport settings. The comparative analyses show that the states of Denmark, Norway and Sweden have willingly and frequently sought to regulate school sport. By contrast, traditions regarding the voluntary sport organizations have been much more diverse and ranged from heavy interference in Norway to almost no interference in Denmark.

Objectively measured physical activity in Danish after-school cares: Does sport certification matter?

Inactivity and more sedentary time predominate the daily activity level of many of todays children. In Denmark, certified sport after‐school cares have been established in order to increase childrens daily physical activity (PA) level. This cross‐sectional study aimed to investigate the activity level among participants in certified sport after‐school cares vs regular after‐school cares. The study was carried out in 2011 in 10 after‐school cares (5 sport/5 regular) throughout Denmark, whereof 475 children aged 5–11 years participated. PA level was assessed using Actigraph GT3X and GT3X+ activity monitors worn by the children for at least 8 consecutive days. Anthropometry and cardiorespiratory fitness were measured as well. A multivariate regression analysis was carried out to check for the differences in the PA level across the two care systems. However, there did not appear to be any differences in overall PA or in time‐specific day parts (e.g., during after‐school care). The activity levels were quite similar across after‐school cares and were mutually high during time spent in the care facility.