Spotlight on Tamariki

Key Results

1. Compared with rangatahi, more tamariki participate each week and they are more likely to spend 7-plus hours being active. Tamariki spend two-thirds of their participation time each week in informal participation and just one-third in organised participation; in contrast, rangatahi divide their time almost equally between informal and organised participation.
2. From age 6, weekly participation, time spent, number of sports and activities and meeting the physical activity guidelines through play, active recreation and sport are relatively stable by age. Tamariki aged 5 are lower on all the key participation statistics.
3. European tamariki have higher levels of weekly participation compared with all tamariki. Although Māori tamariki spend more than the average time being active, fewer participate each week. Pacific tamariki participate in fewer sports and activities. Asian tamariki have lower scores on all key participation statistics.
4. Tamariki from low deprivation areas have higher levels of weekly participation, are more likely to spend 7-plus hours a week participating, participate in more sports and activities and are more likely to meet the physical activity guidelines. In contrast, tamariki from high deprivation areas have lower levels of weekly participation, are less likely to spend 7-plus hours participating in fewer sports and activities.
5. Although no overall gender difference is evident in the proportion of males and females who are active each week, males do more. They spend 10 percent more time each week being active. The gap increases to 21 percent at age 10 and is 18 percent at age 7. They also do more sports and activities each week and they are more likely to participate for 7-plus hours and to meet the physical activity guidelines than females.
6. The gender gap in time spent being active evident for tamariki, continues into teenage years and throughout adulthood.
7. Tamariki who spend 7-plus hours being active each week have higher happiness levels.
8. As tamariki get older, the rise in organised participation is steeper than the drop in informal participation. Organised participation increases by 13 percent and time spent almost doubles from 2.7 to 5.2 hours. Informal participation drops by 2 percent and time decreases by 22 percent from 7.6 hours to 5.9 hours.
9. The increase in organised participation is attributed to greater participation in competitions or tournaments – a 245 percent increase from age 5 to 11. Training or practising with a coach or instructor and team/club membership in and outside of school also increase as tamariki get older,
10. The drop in informal participation is mainly accounted for by a decrease in playing alone (19 percent less time), followed by a decrease in playing with others (6 percent less time). As time spent in play decreases, time doing extra exercise, training or practice without a coach or instructor steeply increases by 280 percent.
11. Males are more likely to participate in competitions or tournaments and spend more time doing so, especially between ages 7 and 10. They are also more likely to be team/club members outside of school, while females are more likely to be club/team members at school. Males also have higher levels of enjoyment playing sport and are more likely to agree New Zealand athletes and sports teams are good role models and make them want to be more active.
12. Data collected through Sport NZ’s Voice of Participant9 survey showed that, between ages 5 and 12, 41 percent of tamariki join clubs to learn or improve skills and 30 percent do so for fun, with no gender difference evident. The survey also found variation in experience was determined more by individual sports than by gender.
13. Four in five tamariki like physical education (PE), although the proportion drops to three in four at age 11. The Healthy Active Learning Interim Evaluation Report10 noted that although most students like PE (73 percent), felt included in PE and physical activity opportunities and were learning lots during classes, there is significant room for improvement. For example, just one in three said they are good at PE (34 percent), one in four felt included in PE (27 percent) and one in four felt included in physical activity choices (24 percent). The report
    identified opportunities for improvement through developing sportsmanship, reducing repetition of activities, and increasing input into activities. Fewer than one-third of teachers reported their school had a formal process for consulting students about new physical activities or sports they would like to participate in.
14. Sport NZ’s Voice of Rangatahi survey11 found males in school years 7 and 8 were more likely to agree that they have a say when it comes to the physical activity they do at school (64 percent compared with 51 percent of females). In the same study, females were more likely to disagree they are helped to develop to their full potential at school (17 percent compared with 11 percent of males).
15. Two in five tamariki use active ways to get to school. One in three walks, which is consistent across all ages. Biking, skateboarding, scootering, and rollerblading are more popular for ages 9 and 10 and biking from age 10 compared with other age groups. Males are more likely to use active ways to get to school than females, including biking to school. This pattern follows through into rangatahi years.
16. Fun is the lead motivator for participating (four in five), followed by hanging out with family and friends (one in two), learning, or practising a new skill (two in five) and ‘because I have to’ (three in 10).
17. Hanging out with family and friends is a consistent motivation for all ages except age 5, where this motivation is lower. This is also true for because ‘I have to’. Males are more likely to be motivated by hanging out with family and friends, and females by ‘because I have to’.
18. Motivations change as tamariki get older. Fun and learning or practising a new skill are higher between ages 5 and 7, and the motivations of physical challenge or winning and ‘because I’m good at it’ are higher from age 9.
19. Understanding the benefits of being active is higher from age 8. This is the only physical literacy statement where a difference by gender is evident, with females more likely to know the benefits than males.
20. Nine in ten tamariki agree they are encouraged to be active,12 which is consistent by age and gender. Tamariki from high deprivation areas are less likely to feel encouraged, to know why being active is good and to want to take part in physical activities. They are also less likely to agree they have opportunity to do activities of choice. Sport NZ’s Voice of Rangatahi survey shows females are less likely to feel encouraged in intermediate school settings.
21. Four in five tamariki want to be active – this proportion is higher at age 5 and lower at age 11. Four in five tamariki have the chance to do activities of choice, especially at age 7. Competence is consistent by age and confidence is higher at age 9.
22. One in two tamariki wants to do more, especially at age 5 and tamariki from high deprivation areas. No difference by gender is evident.
23. The top barrier for tamariki who want to do more is ‘too busy’ (two in five), followed by ‘my family can’t afford it’ (one in five) and not being able to fit in with other family members’ activities (one in five) and too hard to get to trainings or competitions (one in six).
24. ‘Too busy’ is a consistent barrier by age. It is less often a barrier for tamariki from high deprivation areas.
25. Affordability is also a consistent barrier by age and more common among females. It is a barrier for tamariki from high deprivation areas. ‘Difficulty getting to training, games and competitions’, having no places nearby to ‘do what I want to do’ and not having equipment they need are all more prominent barriers for tamariki from high deprivation areas.
26. For 17 percent of tamariki who prefer to do other things rather than do more, the top alternative activities of choice are consistent by age: spending time with family or friends, reading and playing electronic games.
27. The top alternative activity males prefer to do is play electronic games. Almost twice as many males as females have this preference. For males, this is followed by spending time with family and friends and reading – the top two activities for females. Tamariki from high deprivation areas are more likely to prefer playing electronic games than all tamariki.