Atheist kids better at sports: study

[rug]

Published: 30 Nov 2011 14:25 GMT+1
Updated: 30 Nov 2011 11:59 GMT+1
Online: http://www.thelocal.ch/1911/20111130/

Results of a study of 600 children conducted by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EHT) have shown that religion has an effect on sporting ability, with Muslim girls the least skilled.

For the study, first grade school children in Winterthur in northern Switzerland underwent regular tests to measure their strength, coordination and agility.

After four years of following their development, the ETH's Institute for Movement Sciences and Sport cross-referenced the data with information about the origin of their parents, their native language and their religion.

Results showed that children with no religious background tend to be the most skilful athletes. These are followed by Protestants and Catholics. At the opposite end of the spectrum are Muslim children, who performed well below the average, especially girls.

http://www.thelocal.ch/national/20111130_1911.html#

Shall we subject this study to further scrutiny?

[onpatrol98]

1. Yes...

Yes, I'm feeling fairly skeptical. There are so many underlying variables that I don't see a way that you could connect excellence in sports with religion.

[NMMNG]

2. I could see why Muslim girls

and girls from some RRW Christian sects (or even Orthodox Jewish sects) might be worse at sports. It's hard to compete in sports if you're required to wear heavy "modest" clothing, have been taught that it's indecent to let your breasts jiggle about, etc.

Beyond that I don't know of any particular reason religion might impact athletic ability/performance. It would be prudent to study this more.

[rug]

3. The first problem is a database of first graders.

[NMMNG]

4. That's definitely a problem

It's not like that age group has much athletic experience, after all.

[Adsos Letter]

14. Some Christians dislike the extreme emphasis placed upon winning

that sometimes accompanies organized, intramural school sports. Some have gone to the opposite extreme of hobbling organized athletic development because of it. Case in point:

My girls went to a small SDA Christian academy from K-12, with a student body that varied between 120-160. Traditionally weak on sports but a strong emphasis on academic excellence. We knew about the restrictions on sports when we enrolled them, but we intended to (and did) put our girls in city-league softball and baseball.

It was interesting to see the evolution of school athletic policies during the time my girls were there; our girls were nine years apart, so we were involved with the school for many years. SDA doctrine has traditionally been pretty conservative, but individuals often side with liberal politics against conservative politics because of the church's emphasis on individual liberty of conscience, and Church/State separation.

They began allowing organized intramural sports programs about four years after my oldest daughter began attending, because many of us parents and the P.E. teachers were pushing for it. My girls both developed very good athletic skills, both at school and in city-league, and I credit both city-league and this SDA school's evolution in their attitude toward sports for that.

EDIT: It helps to re-read and complete the piece before posting... :dunce:

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Absolutely, study it further. I LOVE finding evidence that atheism

is a benefit to its adherants, and that religion is the drag on personal development that I've always believed it to be.

It makes perfect sense. It is skill, training, persistence, and faith in ones self that makes for excellence in any endeavor. If you are trained to put faith in the supernatural, you are losing one of the pillars of personal development.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[RaleighNCDUer]

7. You do know, don't you, that it was avowed christians who put

the eugenics programs into use, even up to the ultimate ones who had "Got Mit Uns" on their belt buckles.

Don't feed me that crap.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

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[beam me up scottie]

10. "WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE UNLESS...YOU'RE A BELIEVER!" Stalin actually said that?

:rofl:

[rug]

12. He's misquoting Lenin from "The Proletarian Revolution & the Renegade Kautsky".

It happens from time to time.

[NMMNG]

9. Captain Non-Sequitur strikes again

:eyes:

[Old and In the Way]

11. I would suspect that it may be a function of enforced parental priorities.

The religious families might allow their children less opportunities for social interaction where sports skills are learned at an early age?

[MADem]

13. I'm betting you're right on the money with that hypothesis...! nt

[jeepnstein]

16. Probably.

Schools, social groups, economic status, cultural differences, they all probably have something to do with it.

So is this the part where we start a Tim Tebow flame war? If it is then I'll see you guys later.

[PassingFair]

15. In my personal study of TWO kids....

Atheist kids are NOT better at sports.

I've tried to subvert the "us vs. them" mentality
of sports and school rivalry that begins the
de-humanizing process that leads people to think
that war is acceptable.

My girls both played soccer, but neither one much
cared whether they won games or not.

There are 3 grade schools that feed into 1 middle school
around here, and I well remember having to INSIST that
the kids from the other schools were NOT their natural enemies!

[LeftishBrit]

17. Possibly an association with social class?

I don't know whether non-religious groups in Switzerland tend to come from better-off backgrounds than Christians. But it's possible. At any rate Muslims in that country would tend to be relatively concentrated among poor immigrants.

Better-off people tend on average to be healthier.

[deacon_sephiroth]

18. makes sense, it's just an issue of time management

Atheist kid: I'ts sunday I can play / train / rest all day
Xian kid: It's sunday I have to go be indoctrinated
Muslim kid: It's harder to train while praying 5 times a day