Sports and Child Development

Christina Felfe; Michael Lechner; Andreas Steinmayr

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0151729

Sports and Child Development

PLoS One. 2016 May 4;11(5):e0151729. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0151729. eCollection 2016.

Authors

Christina Felfe^{1

2}, Michael Lechner^{1

2

3

4

5

6}, Andreas Steinmayr^{5

7}

Affiliations

¹ Swiss Institute for Empirical Economic Research, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
² Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institut, Munich, Germany.
³ Center for Economic Policy Research, London, England.
⁴ Policy Studies Institute, London, England.
⁵ Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany.
⁶ Institut for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany.
⁷ Department of Economics, University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.

Abstract

The role of curricular activities for the formation of education, health and behavioural outcomes has been widely studied. Yet, the role of extra-curricular activities has received little attention. This study analyzes the effect of participation in sports clubs-one of the most popular extra-curricular activities among children. We use alternative datasets and flexible semi-parametric estimation methods with a specific way to use the panel dimension of the data to address selection into sports. We find positive and robust effects on children's school performance and peer relations. Crowding out of passive leisure activities can partially explain the effects.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Child Development*
Female
Humans
Male
Sports*

Grants and funding

Funding provided by St. Gallen Research Center in Aging, Welfare, and Labour Market Analysis (SCALA). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.