Evolution in the Sports Habits of Sport Sciences Students in Spain

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyse the evolution of the sports habits of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences students in Spain. It is a quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study. The sample is comprised of 1043 students divided into three different academic years: 357 (34.2%) were studying in the period 1991-92, 364 (34.9%) in 2012-13 and 322 (30.9%) in 2016-17. The majority are males (74.3% compared to 24.7% females) and their mean age is 21.7 (SD=3.077). A questionnaire with a reliability index of α=.822,.836,.877, respectively, was used to collect the data. The results show that the student profile is clearly athletic, with sports backgrounds in their families, a trend that increased over the years, although once they started their degree programmes the number of sports they practised decreased. Football is the majority sport, which increased in the academic years studied and decreased after the students enrolled in the school. Their sports practice is associated with federations, and therefore the majority compete nationally and regionally.