Children's leisure time

Below is a definition of important terms, indicators and background variables. Definition of indicators is sorted by table/theme.

Persons (in 1000)

This is the estimated number of people in 1000. For instance, if the number presented for the indicator 'Skiing in mountains, forests or fields' is 1 685, this implies that approximately 1,685,000 people have done this activity.

The figures are rounded to the nearest whole 1000. If the estimated number is less than 500, it will be shown as 0. This does not mean that the estimated number is 0, but that the estimated number is below 500.

Definitions of indicators

Participated in organized sports, in total
Persons who participate in organized sports as members of a sports team or sports club.

Football
Persons who have played football as members of a sports team or sports club.

Gymnastics
Persons who have participated in gymnastics as members of a sports team or sports club.

Cross country skiing and biathlon
Persons who have participated in Cross country skiing and biathlon as members of a sports team or sports club.

Junior athletics/multisports
Persons who have participated in junior athletics/multisports as members of a sports team or sports club.

Tennis, squash or badminton
Persons who have played tennis, squash or badminton as members of a sports team or sports club.

Handball
Persons who have played handball as members of a sports team or sports club.

Basketball
Persons who have played basketball as members of a sports team or sports club.

Volleyball
Persons who have played volleyball as members of a sports team or sports club.

Dance
Persons who have participated in dance as members of a sports team or sports club.

Ice hockey, bandy or indoor bandy
Persons who have played Ice hockey, bandy or indoor bandy as members of a sports team or sports club.

Martial arts
Persons who have participated in martial arts as members of a sports team or sports club.

Orienteering
Persons who have participated in orienteering as members of a sports team or sports club.

Swimming
Persons who have participated in swimming as members of a sports team or sports club.

Horse riding
Persons who have participated in horse riding through as members of a sports team or sports club.

Gymnastics
Persons who have participated in gymnastics as members of a sports team or sports club.

Cycling
Persons who have participated in cycling as members of a sports team or sports club.

Climbing
Persons who have participated in climbing as members of a sports team or sports club.

Participated in outdoor activities, in total.
Persons who have participated in at least one of the following outdoor activities:

• Skiing
• Outdoor ice skates
• Snowboarding, alpine- or randonee- skiing
• Hiking in the mountains, forest or in parks
• Cycling
• Outdoor swimming
• Boat trip
• Fishing
• Outdoor horseriding
• Berry- or mushroom picking

Skiing
Persons who state that they have been skiing in their leisure time after school.

Outdoor ice skates
Persons who state that they have been ice-skating in their leisure time after school

Snowboarding, alpine- or randonee- skiing
Persons who state that they have been snowboarding, alpine- or randonee- skiing in their leisure time after school

Hiking in the mountains, forest or in parks
Persons who state that they have been hiking in the mountains, forest or in parks in their leisure time after school

Cycling
Persons who state that they have been cycling in the mountains, forest or in parks in their leisure time after school

Outdoor swimming
Persons who state that they have been swimming outside in their leisure time after school

Boat trip
Persons who state that they have been on a boat trip in their leisure time after school.

Fishing
Persons who state that they have been on fishing in their leisure time after school.

Horse riding
Persons who state that they have been horse riding in their leisure time after school.

Berry or mushroom picking
Persons who state that they have been berry- or mushroom picking in their leisure time after school.

Exercise motivation
Indicators of exercise motivation are asked to people who participates in organised sports and/or exercise on a fitness centre, and who state that their exercise or physical activity have led to heavy breath or sweating at least 1 day a week or, less often.

Motives for exercising, include:

• To be together with friends.
• Because it's fun.
• To compete.
• To challenge myself and achieve new things.
• Because my parents want it.
• To look good. (only asked to those aged 12-15)
• Because it's good for me. (only asked to those aged 12-15)

Barriers to exercise
Barriers for exercise are answered by parents.

Obstacles to training are put to parents. Obstacles include:

• Costs for equipment, travel, and membership fees
• The child is occupied with other activities during their free time
• Schoolwork commitments
• Parents do not have the time to provide support
• The child is not interested in participating in organized sports
• The child does not know anyone who is involved in the sports they are interested in
• Lengthy travel to activities that interest the child
• The child's health or functional level (this applies only to children with disabilities)
• Other obstacles
• No obstacles

Age
Persons are grouped by age at year-end for the completion of the main part of the interview. The groups are divided by age 6-11 years and 12-15 years.

Centrality
The measure places the municipalities in a category from 1 (most central) to 6 (least central). A complete list of where each municipality is placed on the centrality scale can be found here: https://www.ssb.no/en/klass/klassifikasjoner/128/korrespondanser/619

Parent’s educational level
Refers to parent’s highest completed education level. Based on information on the highest completed level of education from education registers. For more information about classification, see Norwegian Standard Classification of Education (NUS200).

• Education is grouped as follows:
• Primary and lower secondary education (NUS-level 0,1,2)
• Upper secondary education (NUS-level 3,4,5)
• Tertial education, 4 years or less (NUS-level 6)
• Tertial education, more than 4 years (NUS-level 7,8)
• Unknown or no completed education (NUS-level 9 or missing from registers)

The status of highest completed education applies to two years before the statistical year. This means that people who have completed their education in the year before the statistical year have not updated their education level.

Parent’s income level
Income information comes from administrative register, with status from two years before the statistical year. We group the parents’ total income by income group (quartiles). The groups are based on the household's total income after tax, and the number of people in the household (consumption unit) is taken into account.

• First quartile: lowest 25 percent of the income distribution
• Second quartile: second lowest 25 percent of the income distribution
• Third quartile: second highest 25 percent of the income distribution
• Fourth quartile: highest 25 percent of the income distribution

Name: Children’s leisure time.

Topic: Culture and recreation.

Division for Income and social welfare statistics

Nationally representative, tables presented by county (fylke).

The Survey of Children’s leisure activities is conducted every 3 years

Not relevant

Data files with results from the interviews and statistical files with coded variables, linked information and weights are stored. Anonymized files are also available for researchers through Sikt.

The aim with the survey of children’s leisure activities is to survey children’s physical activity, play, sport participation and outdoor recreation habits. The purpose of this survey has three main objects; (1) obtain in information about the extent of childrens’ physical activity, exercise, sport participation and outdoor activities, (2) how it evolves over time, and (3) how it is distributed among children and young people.

Statistics Norway has carried out living conditions surveys since 1973. The survey on children’s (6-15 years) leisure time with questions about physical activity and outdoor life has previously been carried out in 1997, 2001, 2007, 2013 and 2020. As of 2024, the survey is conducted every 3 years.

The primary users of this statistic are the ministry, directorate, and research institutions that focus on children and young people, their leisure activities, local environments, and overall living conditions.

Additionally, the statistic provide valuable insights for the media and others interested in understanding the current state and development of living conditions for children and young people.

No external users have access to the statistics and analyses before they are published and accessible simultaneously for all users on ssb.no at 08:00 am. Prior to this, a minimum of three months' advance notice is given in the Statistics Release Calendar. This is one of Statistics Norway’s key principles for ensuring that all users are treated equally.

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

Not relevant

The population of the Survey on children's leisure time survey is Norwegian children and youth aged 6-15 years, who resides in Norway.

Data sources are interview data from the Survey on children's leisure time and various attached registry information.

In 2024, the Survey on children's leisure time was carries out as a web-based cross-sectional survey with a gross selection of 7500 people.

A more detailed description of selection method is described in the documentation note, see «Relevant documentation» below.

The survey is also attached various register information from the National registration office, dwelling registry, education registry, income registry, and Fd-trygd og FD-trygd.

Data collection

Data collection was conducted as a web survey the last three weeks of April 2024.

Editing

The web form and the telephone interviews both take place using a questionnaire that is programmed with checks and warnings to avoid wrong answers or registration errors during the interview.

Limitations

The main sample in the Survey on children's leisure is drawn so that it reflects the population in the age segment the survey targets (6-12 years).

The unit of analysis is the person answering the survey.

Not relevant

Interviewers and everyone who works at Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality. Statistics Norway has its own data protection officer.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures where there is a risk of identifying individual data about persons or households.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

Non-response errors

Dropout rates can vary significantly across different segmented groups, resulting in a net sample that may not fully represent the targeted population. In surveys, biases can occur due to varying propensities to respond, which can differ among groups and across different variables. To address some of these biases in the gross sample relative to the population, we developed a weight. The weight allows people with characteristics that are underrepresented to count more, while those with overrepresented characteristics count less. The following characteristics are included in the calculation of the weights in 2024: gender, age, parnet’ educational level and income level, and country background.

In sample surveys, we cannot be certain that the results we obtain reflect what we would find if we conducted a complete count. This uncertainty is known as sampling error. To quantify the uncertainty associated with a percentage, we can utilize the standard error. By using the standard error, it becomes possible to calculate an interval that, with a specified level of confidence, is expected to contain the true value of a calculated quantity. These intervals are referred to as confidence intervals. The width of the confidence interval increases when dealing with smaller sample sizes, and it also becomes larger as the observed percentage approaches 50 %.

The smaller the sample, the greater the uncertainty associated with the results. For instance if we find that 12 percent of children aged 6 to 11 have played basketball, based on a sample of 2,239 respondents in this age group, we can compute a confidence interval for this proportion. The standard error of the observed percentage is 0.8 with this number of observations. To determine the confidence interval, we use the formula: observed percentage ± (2 × standard error). This yields a confidence interval that with 95 percent probability contains the true population value. In this case, the true proportion of children aged 6 to 11 who have played basketball is likely to fall between 10.4 percent and 13.4 percent.

In this statistic, groups with at least 100 respondents are published. If a group has fewer than 100 respondents, no data will be provided for that group because the figures may be unreliable.

Not relevant