This master thesis examines sport habits among young people and a view of their future in sports. Research has shown that the majority of youth leave sport clubs during adolescence. The thesis questions were: How physically active are young people? Which sports do they practice? Regarding their future in sports, what kind of aspirations do the young people have? Are there any barriers that could complicate their involvement in these activities? These questions were examined by analyzing if there were any differences between boys and girls, youth in different grades and youth with Swedish or foreign backgrounds. Pierre Bourdieu´s theoretical framework about sports and economic capital has been used as a research framework. 248 students (6th to 9th grade) in Umeå answered a survey about their sport habits. The results showed that many adolescents participate in sports activities. Participation in sport clubs decreased with age, which lead to the fact that many young people do not meet the recommendation from WHO (2010) of one hour of physical exercise each day. Sport capital was an important factor for physical practice, while economic capital was important within sport clubs but not outside. Half of the studied population wanted to exercise more frequently but there were several factors that prevented them. The different groups that were analyzed showed varying results, especially about their habits within sport clubs. This study confirms research about drop-out during adolescence which could lead to large challenges for sport clubs and decision makers within sports in the future.

Physical inactivity is a growing concern among adolescents, which is the fundamental issue addressed in this study. The purpose of this study was to gain more knowledge about adolescents’ physical activity habits and the factors that influence physical activity. The study was based on a questionnaire consisting of 23 questions. The participants were 149 upper secondary school pupils between 15-19 years old from Östersund who studied both theoretically and practically oriented programs. Based on the World Health Organization [WHO] recommendations on physical activity the adolescents were categorized as active and inactive, and then compared with various background factors that previous research has demonstrated as being important determinants of physical activity. These factors were socioeconomic background, parental influence, sex and ethnicity. The results showed that most active adolescents are also active in sports clubs (p <0.05), has the highest final grade in the subject physical education and health in school year 9 (p <0.05), attends a theoretical program (p <0, 05), has a high educational capital (p <0.05), has a high sporting capital (p <0.05), is more motivated to physical activity (p <0.05) and have more support from their parents (p <0.05). The results was discussed by using the framework suggested by Bourdieu, habitus and capital.