Family support played a key role in determining the growing level of children's participation in sports, according to a survey released by HK government Saturday.
More than 57 percent of five-to-nine-year-olds who were active in sports played primarily with family members, as opposed to with friends (14 percent) or classmates (20 percent) or by themselves (5 percent), showed the survey.
Some 42 percent primarily engaged in sports with their parents,11 percent with siblings, and 4 percent with relatives, according to the survey conducted by the Social Sciences Research Center of the University of Hong Kong released to media by Hong Kong Sports Development Board.
Around 64 percent of active young participants played sports at least once a week, just over a fifth (22 percent) played more than twice a week.
Boys were more active than girls (67 percent versus 60 percent),especially in Autumn and Winter, while Summer was the peak season with the aggregate participation rate surging to 72 percent.
As in 1999, swimming was the most popular sport among youngsters with a participation rate of 15 percent, followed by basketball (14 percent), and badminton (13 percent), the survey said.
(eastday.com December 30, 2001)
