RESEARCH Minister Cullen releases latest Irish Sports Council ESRI commissioned research

o More people playing sport in Ireland today than in the past
o 76% of adult sport is individual rather than team sports
o Regular participation in sport is equivalent to being 14 years younger

The number of people engaged in exercise activities has increased dramatically, particularly in the last twenty years. Young adults play much more sport than their parent’s generation and are therefore likely to participate more as older adults.

Playing sport improves people’s health, but having played sport in the past means people are more likely to enjoy good current health too.

This is the key finding of the Economic and Social Research Institute / Irish Sports Council latest publication “Sporting Lives: An Analysis of a Lifetime of Irish Sport”. The publication takes a longer-term perspective on Irish Sport and in particular how participation in sport and exercise in Ireland has changed over recent decades and how it varies across the life course, from childhood to later adulthood.

The research also found that many people drop out from team sports as teenagers and young adults while individual sports are played much more into adulthood.  The rapid rise of individual sports, especially personal exercise activities such as going to the gym, aerobics, swimming and jogging is notable. Participation in team sports declines over the life course. The report highlights the relative decline of participation in Gaelic Games over several decades. 

Minister Cullen commented: “The report concludes that, in fact, we are playing more sport in Ireland than previous generations.  That is an extremely positive outcome and one that, collectively, we should be very pleased with.  The report is not without its challenges. There are significant gender and socio-economic gaps in sports participation and major issues for team sports”.

The research estimates that current regular participation in sport is equivalent, in health terms, to being 14 years younger. Playing sport in the past is also likely to be good for current health. The report estimates that the health difference between someone with low past participation and someone with high past participation is equivalent to being three years younger. 

The gender gap in sports participation is affirmed in the report. Adult women are as likely to take up sport as adult men with the gap arising from different experiences of sport as children. The data suggests that the different treatment of young girls opens up a sporting gender gap that never closes.

The report also highlights the gap in participation between different socio-economic groups. The differences endure and strengthen across a person’s life and the research recommends interventions with children as young as five to ten years of age, to tackle the problem.