Frecuencia de práctica y motivos de participación/no participación en actividades físicas en función del género de escolares de 10-12 años de Melilla

The present article presents the results of a study aimed at know the influence of gender in weekly and daily practice and in the reasons/non-reasons for practicing physical activity that show school age 10-12 years of Melilla. The participants were all schoolchildren in courses 5 and 6th (10-12 years) from three public schools in Melilla (n= 439). Data were collected through the "Habits of Participation in Physical Activities Questionnaire". The results show the significant differences gender in the daily frequency of practice (z= 2,72, p < ,01). the main reasons for participating in physical activities in free time are those more closely related to the health field (i.e. "I like being healthy and fit", "Taking exercise is good", "I want to keep my figure and look fine"), as well as to the social aspects of participating in this kind of activities (i.e. "I like having fun and filling my leisure time" or "I like to meet friends and do things with them"). Moreover, the reasons for not participating in physical activity programs stand out very significantly from the rest: "lack of time" or "studies, doing homework, other academic activities". These results are similar to the findings of previous studies developed in different national and international contexts.