Physical activity and sport involvement in French high school students

The links between morphological, biological, sociological, psychological, and environmental characteristics, the practice of organized sports, and moderate to vigorous physical activities were examined by means of a questionnaire given to 48 high-school students aged between 16 and 19 years and their continuous heart-rate monitoring. Few correlations appear between these characteristics and moderate to vigorous physical activities. Only maximal oxygen uptake is linked to this type of activity in girls. Concerning sport involvement, correlations were more numerous for girls than boys. Physical and sports activities of girls were linked with maximal oxygen uptake, sport involvement of father, support, and encouragements of practice, perception of own activity, and private environment. Among boys, physical and sport activities were only linked with sport involvement of friends and perception of own activity. Unlike boys, physical and sport activities among girls seemed more strongly linked to sociological characteristics than other ones.