Secular trend of sports practice of Brazilian children and young people in the decade of mega-sport events

Abstract

Introduction: Hosting mega-sport events can be an important political strategy for promoting the sport. Brazil had a decade with different mega-sport events, so we want to highlight how many Brazilian young people have been practicing sports throughout this period. Methods: This secular trend was attended by over 37,000 young people during January 2007 and December 2018. This data is part of a project aimed at mapping physical fitness, growth indicators and sports practice of young Brazilians. Data were described using descriptive statistics techniques. Results: The girls' sport practice was always smaller than boys, despite the decrease in the practice of the boys in 2012. We note a substantial upsurge in the years before the Olympic Games. Especially in Brazil, the years before Rio's Olympic Games happened the men's soccer world cup and men's confederations cup. In this year’s we note a substantial upsurge in sports practice. However, soccer, futsal (boys) and volleyball (girls) are the most practiced sports. Implications: From these results, the strategies for promoting sports can be revaluated. Understanding which sports are the most and least practiced by children is a first step towards directing policies for the promotion and democratization of sports, regardless of the sport.