Does becoming a parent reduce sports participation? A longitudinal study of short- and long-term effects

Introduction: Parenthood can have a negative effect on sport behaviour despite the known health benefits of participation in sports. Recent studies have shown that becoming a parent is related to a reduction in exercise. However, this relationship is less clear for men than women. In addition, most studies only focused on short-term effects. Therefore, it is unknown whether these effects remain prevalent one year after becoming a parent. Method: Using twelve data waves of the Dutch Longitudinal Internet studies for the Social Sciences (LISS) panel, we examined the influence of becoming a parent on sport behaviour in the short- (<1 year) and long-term (>1 year). Given the known differences between men and women, we also examined possible gender differences in this change. Multilevel logistic regression of the data of 6,276 observations for 725 respondents showed that the short- and long-term effects of becoming a parent have different implications for the sport behaviour of men and women. Results: While men's participation in sports is not affected by parenthood, women initially stop participating in sports, but they start again after one year. Additionally, women's frequency of engagement in sports is reduced when they become mothers. In contrast, the frequency of sport engagement is not affected when men become fathers. From a resource perspective, the results show how limited time and energy can differentially affect the sport behaviour of men and women after they become parents. Discussion: Together with the different pathways of sport participation in the short- and long-term, these results can inform the development of interventions aimed at sustainable physical activity for new parents.