To deviate from the expected: a collective story of physical activity among inactive rural children

Physically inactive children in rural areas are overlooked in research because of the dominance of urban perspectives focusing on physical activity rather than inactivity. The aim of this article is to examine an emerging collective story of how physically inactive children (aged 9–11 years) in two rural areas experience their relationships with physical activity. Based on praxis-oriented sociocultural theorising, this study focuses on how practical physical activity is understood by rural children as part of their sociocultural environment. Five focus group interviews with 21 physically inactive rural children in western Sweden were conducted. Experiences and behaviours that the children emphasised as central to their inactivity were analysed as sociocultural expressions in a collective story about physical activity. To underline the importance of narratives for behaviour in the sociocultural environment, the collective story is presented through three composite narratives told by three fictional characters: ‘Robin, the shy one’, ‘Kim, the farm kid’, and ‘Angry Alex’. Characteristic of these inactive rural children is a lack of self-confidence, a lack of meaning, and difficulties in managing social physical activities. Common to the behaviours that follow from the children’s experiences is that they are perceived as deviating from what is expected of them in accordance with the cultural story about a physically active child. The analysis shows that the underlying cause is the discrepancy between the children’s understanding of physical activity and the understanding conveyed via institutions informed by urban perspectives such as, for example, school. For instance, children view physical activity as part of daily labour at the same time that the school teaches physical activities intended for recreational purposes in spare time. Institutions should make room for more interpretations, including rural ones, of the meaning of physical activity and, thus, contribute to reconstructing the cultural narrative about physical activity.