ABSTRACT
In the literature on young people’s health and its relation to participation in physical activity, there are recurring narratives that lament the decline in participation during the senior years of schooling and beyond (e.g. Sallis et al. 2000). This apparent decline has been interpreted as a significant problem and one that must be addressed by strategies to engage young people in more physical activity; most of which target young people with a view to changing their attitudes and behaviours (Gyurcsik et al. 2004; Leslie et al. 2001). This concern about young people’s participation in physical activity seems to be embedded in, and adds support to, a notion that adolescence is a developmental period of ‘increased risk’, where young people are particularly susceptible to, and held responsible for, making ‘bad’ health choices (Rose 1992), as parents and schools exert a diminished influence over their lives.
