The Irish Sports Council released a report yesterday outlining the participation levels of Irish people in sport. For it, a telephone interview with 4,292 people was conducted between May and October of 2015.
The term 'sport' here is a pretty wide brush as it covers a very wide range of activities. Some of the key findings are...
1) A decline in participation in 'sport' from 48.0% in 2013 to 46.3% in 2015. This is in contrast to constant increases in previous reports.
They make this comment on the drop..." In previous reports it was hypothesised that the economic downturn might have contributed to increased levels of physical activity. With improvements in the economic situation more recently, and increasing levels of employment, the converse may now apply with those returning to work, and leading busier lifestyles, possibly sacrificing some of their sporting activity."
2) The number of people running went from 8.4% to 8.8%. This represents an almost 5% rise in number of people running. In terms of the poll, this would an increase from 361 to 378 people who answered 'running'.
The most popular sport is 'Exercise' but this is a very wide field. It includes going to the gym, fitness classes and more. In terms of defined activities, running is now the most popular activity at 8.8%.
As for why the drop in swimming?...or dancing! :o))
The one advantage running has as a sport is that it can be done in a short space of time. Get changed...out the door...run...home...shower and get changed. Contrast that to some activities which you can't do from home and you have to spend time traveling to and from a venue.
Another interesting graphic is the breakdown by age...
I suspect the high levels in the 16-19 age group might be explained by students in secondary schools doing PE classes. The rest...20 and above....show declining activity with age as I'd guess is to be expected.
It is though in marked contrast to those who run on a regular basis as seen from race participation levels. There are relatively very low numbers of people under the age of 25 running while the peak in the age of people running tends to come from the 35-44 year old group.
The full report can be seen here... http://www.irishsportscouncil.ie/Media/Latest_News/ISM-Mid-Year-Report.pdf
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