Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 15, 2025
A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting
Published on: January 12, 2018
Sports participation and preterm birth: a nationwide birth cohort in Japan
Kei Tamai1,2, Naomi Matsumoto3, Akihito Takeuchi4
1Department of Pediatrics, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan. gmd501041@s.okayama-u.ac.jp.
Insights
Children born preterm participate less in organized sports than full-term born children. This reduced sports participation is linked to shorter gestation periods and is particularly evident in boys, impacting future health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Sports Medicine
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Preterm birth (<37 weeks) may lead to neurocognitive issues, reduced lung function, and poor fitness, potentially impacting physical activity levels.
- Limited research exists on the association between preterm birth and physical activity in children born in the 2000s.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate sports participation in children and adolescents born preterm (<37 weeks) and early term (37-38 weeks).
- To investigate the association between gestational age at birth and organized sports participation from childhood through adolescence.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of nationwide longitudinal survey data (n=47,015), including 2375 preterm infants.
- Assessment of sports club participation at ages 7 and 10, and extracurricular school sports at age 15.
Main Results:
- Children born very preterm (25-31 weeks) and moderately to late preterm (32-36 weeks) showed lower participation in sports clubs at ages 7, 10, and 15 compared to full-term infants (39-41 weeks).
- Adjusted risk ratios for extracurricular school sports at 15 years old were 0.86 for very preterm, 0.92 for moderately to late preterm, and 1.00 for early term births, relative to full-term births.
- Preterm birth was associated with decreased organized sports participation, particularly in boys, with participation declining as gestation shortened.
Conclusions:
- Preterm birth is significantly associated with reduced participation in organized sports during childhood and adolescence compared to full-term birth.
- A continuum effect was observed, with early term births also showing reduced participation, suggesting a link between shorter gestation and lower sports engagement.
- These findings highlight potential long-term health implications for preterm infants and inform future health outcome predictions.
Background:
Children born preterm may be less physically active than children born term because of neurocognitive problems, reduced lung function, and poor physical fitness. We evaluated sports participation of children and adolescents who had been born preterm (<37 weeks) and early term (37-38 weeks) in 2001.
Methods:
Data from a nationwide longitudinal survey (n = 47,015, including 2375 children born preterm) were analyzed. As indicators of sports participation, we used responses to questions about participation in sports clubs at 7 and 10 years old and in extracurricular school sports at 15 years old.
Results:
Children born very preterm (25-31 weeks) and moderately to late preterm (32-36 weeks) were less likely to participate in sports clubs at 7, 10, and 15 years old than children born full term (39-41 weeks). Compared with children born full term, the adjusted risk ratios for participation in extracurricular school sports at 15 years old were 0.86 (95% confidence interval: 0.75-0.98) for children born very preterm, 0.92 (0.88-0.97) for children born moderately to late preterm, and 1.00 (0.98-1.02) for children born early term.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that preterm birth is associated with less participation in organized sports during childhood and adolescence than full-term birth.
Impact:
Research investigating associations between preterm birth and physical activity among children born in the 2000s is limited. This study shows that preterm birth was associated with less participation in organized sports during childhood and adolescence than full-term birth, especially in boys, and the participation in organized sports of children born preterm decreased as gestation shortened. During childhood, boys born early term were also less likely to participate in organized sports than boys born full term, suggesting a continuum with preterm births. These findings offer important additional insights into the limited evidence available for predicting future health outcomes for preterm infants.
Related Concept Videos
01:08Prevalence and Incidence
Prevalence indicates the proportion of individuals in a population who have a specific disease or health...
01:07Teratogenicity
01:29Bias in Epidemiological Studies
01:26Longitudinal Studies
01:52Regression Toward the Mean
01:18Models of Health Promotion and Illness Prevention II
The agent-host-environment model states that disease results...