SPORT, FITNESS, AND THE GENDER-GAP

Using large-scale and nationally representative surveys of the America n public conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, the a uthors examined recent differences in the sport and fitness activities of men and women aged 18 or older. It was found that participation in sport and fitness activity declined by 12% between 1985 and 1990. Con trary to expectations, such declines were greater among women than men , thus increasing the gender gap in sport and fitness. Young women sho wed greater rates of decline than did older women, and the largest dec lines, amounting to more than 30 occasions of sport and fitness partic ipation per year, were found among the youngest group of women in the sample. Such differences continued to be pronounced even when the infl uence of a variety of variables pertaining to biological, social, econ omic, and lifestyle statuses were controlled. A model for the analysis of such variables in relation to sport and fitness activity is presen ted.