Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity Study (CSPPA), 2022

CSPPA – the Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity study – is an all-island research study that forms the most comprehensive analysis of youth participation in physical activity, physical education and sport on the island of Ireland. CSPPA has been running in Ireland for more than a decade, with our first study taking place in 2010. Over this time we have collected data on levels of participation in physical education, physical activity, youth sport, active travel and sedentary behaviour from over 11,000 children and young people. We have also collected information on physical health, fitness, muscular strength and endurance, and asked children what they think of the opportunities provided to them to be more active. CSPPA has informed government policy, practice by physical education teachers, youth sport coaches, and researchers interested in how to promote physical activity in this cohort.  All schools who took part in CSPPA 2010 and/or 2018 were invited to participate in CSPPA 2022 (n = 122). Seventy-four (65%) of these schools participated in CSPPA 2022. To ensure the samples were representative in terms of gender, socio-economic status, geographical location and size, additional new schools meeting the stratification criteria were recruited. Some instruments from 2010, and 2018 remained the same, although there were some new items too. Data collection was collected solely by teachers.  CSPPA was a multi-centre study, undertaken by the University of Limerick, Dublin City University, University College Cork, and Ulster University. It was funded by Sport Ireland, Healthy Ireland and Sport Northern Ireland, with additional support from the Departments of Health and Education in the Republic of Ireland.