HIGH AND LOW EXERCISERS AMONG 14-YEAR-OLD AND 15-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

To investigate ways in which young People's attitudes about, and motiv ation for, exercise vary with the levels of exercise they take, a self -completed questionnaire was given to 382 children aged 14-15 in two s econdary schools in Devon. It was found that the high exercisers (defi ned by those in the highest quartile) had attitudes to exercise which were more favourable, received more encouragement to exercise and enco uraged others to exercise more. The majority of low exercisers had pos itive beliefs about the value of exercise although approximately half in boys and one-third in girls were satisfied with the amount and kind of exercise they undertook. Low-exercising boys and girls at all exer cise levels preferred their exercise to be non-competitive. The majori ty of both sexes accepted that their future health depended on their c urrent behaviour and, in girls, strength of this belief was directly r elated to exercise level. It may be concluded that advice to young peo ple and physical education programmes in schools should take account o f the attitudes and beliefs about exercise held by pupils of all physi cal abilities.