Scottish Government

2. Summary of Results

Participation in Sport

• Just over half (51%) of adults had recently (that is, in the last 4 weeks) participated in sport, excluding walking for 30 minutes at a time. This rose to 74% adults when walking was included.
• The most common sports adults recently participated in were walking for 30+ minutes, swimming, gym / weights, keep fit / aerobics, cycling for 30+ minutes, dancing, golf, football, hillwalking, running / jogging, snooker / billiards and bowls.
• However, 21% of adults had recently participated in one or more sports other than or as well as those most commonly cited (as listed above), which highlights that people are participating in a relatively diverse range of sporting activities.
• In the last year, 80% of adults had participated in one or more sports (excluding walking). Within this, 46% of adults had participated in one or more sports in the previous year which they had not also undertaken in the previous 4 weeks, suggesting that a relatively high proportion of sport participation is occasional or seasonal.
• Overall rates of recent sport participation (excluding walking) decreased with increasing age and were more common amongst men than women. Rates of participation in specific types of sport varied considerably by age and gender.
• Walking also decreased with age, but was still relatively common amongst the oldest age groups (41% aged 75+ years and 57% aged 60-74 years had walked for 30+ minutes in the last 4 weeks, compared with 73% aged 16-24 years).
• Rates of recent sport participation and walking were lower amongst those in the most deprived areas, those with no access to a car and amongst those with health problems or a disability.
• Of those adults who had participated in any sport in the last year, 25% had received one or more types of sports tuition in the last year, 22% had taken part in one or more sports competitions in the last year and 28% were a member of one or more sports clubs.
• A total of 4% of adults had done some sport-related voluntary work in the last year.

Motivations to Participate in Sport

• The most common reasons for recent participation in sport (including walking) were for enjoyment, to keep fit and to meet with friends.
• The most common reasons for non-participation in sport were poor health, lack of interest and not having enough time.
• The most common factors that would encourage more participation in sport were having people to go with, cheaper admission prices and longer opening hours.
• Adult participation in sport appeared to be strongly linked to positive childhood experience of sport such as being encouraged to participate and being taken to watch sports events as a child.
• A total of 18% of adults had used sport-related websites in the last year, mainly to research or purchase tickets for sporting events.

Local Sports Facilities

• Despite awareness of local sports facilities being relatively high, use of these facilities was relatively low. However, those that did use these local sports facilities rated them positively. The lowest usage and least positive ratings were for outdoor sports pitches.

Attendance at Live Sporting Events

• Only 12% adults reported that they had been spectators at live sporting events in the last 4 weeks.