Uptake of a Universal Sports Subsidy Program for School-Aged Children: A Population Data Analysis.
J Phys Act Health
; 20(10): 948-953, 2023 10 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37734744
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Around 40% of Australian children do not participate in sport. Cost is a major barrier to participation, particularly for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds. This study aimed to evaluate the uptake of a population-level children's sports subsidy scheme, including sociodemographic differences in uptake.METHODS:
A state-wide cross-sectional analysis comparing sports voucher claimants (primary school-aged children with a valid Medicare or Australian visa number) from the 2019 financial year with population census data from South Australia. Chi-square was used to examine whether the percentage of eligible children who claimed a voucher differed based on age, sex, socioeconomic status (SES), and geographical remoteness. Subgroup analyses were conducted for the lowest 2 socioeconomic disadvantage deciles, split by gender. Scatterplots were used to compare sports between high and low SES children.RESULTS:
A total of 74,668 children claimed sports vouchers (45.5% of eligible children). Children who were relatively younger, female, from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and from major cities were least likely to claim the voucher. The 5 most common sports were Australian rules football (30.2%), netball (13.6%), soccer (13.1%), gymnastics (10.4%), and basketball (5.7%), with the popular sports similar for high and low SES children.CONCLUSIONS:
Future work is needed to understand how Sports Voucher, and sport participation rates have changed over time, and to improve voucher uptake among girls, city dwellers, and low SES children.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Exercício Físico
/
Programas Nacionais de Saúde
Tipo de estudo:
Observational_studies
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Prevalence_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
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Child
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Female
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Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Oceania
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Phys Act Health
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália