Five focus groups were conducted with 35 children (21 girls and 14 boys), and then individual semi-structured interviews were completed with 30 of the 35 children (17 girls and 13 boys). The sessions lasted between 40 and 90 min. The participants were between the ages of 9–14. The researchers recruited this age range because previous studies indicated that physical activity participation began to decline for children between these ages (Bélanger et al. 2008; Wall et al. 2011). Participants included 16 Hispanic children, eight White children, five Black or African–American children, and one Asian Indian child.
Four key themes emerged from the children’s discussions of their experiences with athletic clothes and participation in physical activity: (a) body exposure concerns, (b) clothing size exposure concerns, (c) desire to quit because of athletic clothes, and (d) positive experiences with athletic clothes. The results reported in this section are based on data from the individual interviews, unless otherwise noted. Under each theme, the researchers first report findings related to both boys and girls, then findings unique to boys, followed by the findings unique to girls.
Body exposure concerns
Both the boys (n = 10) and girls (n = 10) expressed concern over exposing parts of their bodies. For these participants, they were concerned that their clothes were too tight, too short, or too revealing based on material or cut of the garments. Much of this concern centered on movement during physical activity. For example, Imani explained, “Whenever I lift my hand up to catch the ball my shirt will go up. Sometimes when I lifted my hand my shirt goes up and all my stuff hangs out. It worries me a lot”. Other participants felt that the fit of their clothes exposed their bodies. Amaka stated, “Well, if my clothes are too tight then maybe because they just press against me and it shows like my rolls and stuff like that. I get uncomfortable. I do not like to wear those clothes because it shows”.
Not surprisingly, 13 girls and 10 boys were concerned about exposing their bodies specifically in their swimsuits. Michelle explained that she covers up when swimming by wearing shorts and feels “like I’m not going to fit in my bathing suit and I feel like I’m not used to it, and it’s too tight. Also, it’s not going to be in the right shape for my big size”. Another participant said she wore shorts and a T-shirt to swim because “my legs and top are big and stuff”. Nancy had similar feelings:
My stomach is showing, so I just get the one piece but my stomach still shows. You can see my rolls in the back and I don’t like that so I just try to put stuff over so you don’t see.
The 10 boys who were concerned about covering their bodies in their swimsuits explained that they always wore a shirt to the pool and while swimming. The researcher asked Tyler why he wore a shirt and he said, “Because my friends will judge me”. Jack felt the same way as Tyler. He explained that he kept his shirt on so that way “kids won’t make fun of me”.
The boys indicated specific concern over showing their legs and stomachs. When discussing athletic clothes with Nicholas, he said he felt uncomfortable unless his knees were covered. This was true for other boys, too. Gus wanted his shorts to cover his knees and when asked why he stated, “cause it sort of exposes my thighs you know. I don’t like that”. When talking about his gym shorts, Nicholas stated, “I would want to make sure they cover my knees”.
Unique to the boys was the use of other coping techniques to cover parts of their bodies that they were concerned about. They wore sweaters or sweatshirts even in extremely hot weather conditions (n = 8), wore high socks to cover their calves (n = 1), and wore thicker or darker materials (n = 11) because they felt it hid parts of their body. In the geographic location where the participants resided, the average temperature between June and August is around 98 °F. On the particular days when the interviews were occurring there was a heat wave and the temperatures rose to about 110 °F. When asked if he would still wear a sweater, Darren said yes, “because I feel more comfortable, like when I wear a shirt I look fat and I feel more comfortable with my sweater on”. Ryan explained while pointing to his stomach that he wore a sweater “to hide because people might see this”.
Eleven of the boys also preferred to wear thicker garments or clothing in darker colors to cover parts of their bodies. Noah explained, “I don’t like thin fabric that doesn’t make me look skinnier. Just a little bit but not too thick cause when it’s too thick then it shows my fat”. Gus made a similar comment that he prefers thicker material because the thin materials, “they expose everything”. Within the same conversations these boys explained that they preferred darker materials because “it won’t show that much” (Jack). Benjamin was adamant about wearing darker colors and said, “No, no, no dark colors only so no one can see me. I just want to be ignored”. When asked why he wanted to be ignored, in almost a whisper and while pointing to his body, he explained he feels “shy about this”.
Seven of the girls were conscious of covering their bodies because their parents made comments to them that it was appropriate to do so. Megan explained:
Sometimes she [her mom] will tell me my stomach sticks out too much and I really don’t like it either so she buys me these shirts that hold me in. But, I don’t like those sometimes because it is tight and hard to get them on.
Nancy had a similar experience and explained that her mom wants her to wear specific clothes to cover up. Nancy said, “She [her mom] says I have a big butt so she tries to cover stuff up. I have to wear these shirts I don’t like”.
Clothing size exposure concerns
The participants in the sample were all previously issued a uniform either in an organized sport or for physical education (PE) class at their school. When being issued a uniform the participants explained that the coach or teacher would often say the size of the clothing out loud. Sixteen of the participants (boys n = 7; girls n = 9) explained they did not want their size to be said out loud. When the children were issued the uniforms it was almost always in front of the other kids, which caused some concern. For example, Sarah explained:
I really didn’t want to [say her size out loud] because I was in front of everybody and I had to say it and the coach said if you don’t tell me now then you are not going to get your uniform. So I had to tell them my size.
Imani told a similar story: “In PE they told me to say my size and everybody just looked at me. I felt uncomfortable”. The participants explained that the lower numbers on the uniforms were often the smaller sizes and higher numbers were the larger sizes. Ruth explained that even if people did not hear her say her size out loud when being issued her uniform they would know because she had a high number. She explained, “Yes I did feel uncomfortable while saying the size, but I felt uncomfortable wearing my uniform because the lower numbers were smaller sizes and the highest numbers were the bigger sizes and my number was 34, so everyone knew”.
These experiences of being forced to say their size out loud made four of the participants (boys n = 3; girls n = 1) want the option of choosing their own size uniform or PE clothes. During the focus groups, some of the participants had mentioned this option, and when those who did not have this option heard this, they expressed significant interest in being able to do so during the individual interview. Peyton said she felt good about being able to get her own uniform from a communal pile of uniforms:
You just went in the day of the game and they say get your jersey and get your shorts. I like this. Yeah ’cause I don’t want other people saying “Oh look she’s an XL” ’cause that feels kind of uncomfortable.
Nancy, who had to say her size out loud, responded to Peyton’s comment in the focus group session that “Yeah, I’d like that, too”.
Unique to the boy’s experiences obtaining a uniform was that five of them experienced the adult assuming they were a larger size. For example, Noah said, “They assume I’m a really big size and I’m not that size”. When asked if they were confident in knowing what size they were, all said yes without hesitation. These boys also explained that this size misconception made them feel uncomfortable or sad. Corey relayed the story someone assuming he was a “way larger size” and that it made him “feel sad”. He continued on to say that he would definitely prefer to pick his own size in the future.
On some sports uniforms for boys, including football, basketball, and soccer, the uniform size is displayed on the exterior of the garment. Seven of the boys did not want their size on the exterior of the uniform because they were concerned others would see it. Several of these boys felt strongly about this. Jack felt very uncomfortable with the size on the outside because, “they can see what size you are and I don’t want it there”. Benjamin even said he wanted “to rip it off and put it inside or something”. While Tyler tried to solve this problem by asking the researcher if she knew why they had to put it on the outside of the uniform and if she could tell “them” (referring to the people who design uniforms) to put it on the inside since she was conducting this research.
Desire to quit because of athletic clothes
When 13 of the participants (girls n = 8; boys n = 5) tried to obtain a uniform for a sport or for their PE class, the school or organization did not have their size uniform. These experiences made all of them uncomfortable and made them feel like outsiders. Six (girls n = 4; boys n = 2) of the 13 participants explained that they had to have their size custom-ordered, while the other seven wore the poor-fitting athletic clothes. Sarah had to special-order her PE clothes the first week of school, and then had to go to the office to pick up her uniform. She explained this made her feel embarrassed: “Like it’s not really a bad thing but sometimes it is because people ask why are you going to the office and you don’t really want to tell them you have to custom-order”. When asked if she would ever feel comfortable telling anyone that she had to get a different-sized uniform, she quickly responded with a confident “no”. Imani said they did not have her size uniform for volleyball and that she had to special-order it. For this uniform, the kids who needed a larger size had to pay extra, and this was not an option for Imani’s family. She explained that her mom did not have a job at the time and was on unemployment. Darren remembered a time when the baseball organizers did not have his pant size. When asked if it made him feel uncomfortable he explained that he knew other kids were “making a face”. Four children (girl n = 3, boy n = 1) explained that custom-ordering a uniform was not an option, and that they had to wear the wrong size. One participant explained that he wore a football jersey that covered only half of his stomach. He said, “It was really embarrassing at first, but I got used to it after a while”.
Some participants (girls n = 4; boys n = 3) also explained that the condition of the uniform made them feel like outsiders. They felt that the coaches or teachers issued the newer uniforms to the skinnier children and the older, more worn uniforms to the overweight children. Michelle said, “It’s not fair because the skinny ones they get new ones and the chubby ones get the old ones”. Darren had a similar experience and explained, “Yeah it made me feel not like everybody else. Since they are better they get the newer, better uniforms”. Presley described a similar situation where her uniform was not older, but different than the other kids: “Yeah there’s about three of us, me and two other people. They did not have our size so we’d have to go and get the green ones”. The process of having to obtain the uniform in a different location made her feel different than the other kids in a negative way.
Sometimes these feelings of difference led to the participants wanting to quit or not play (girls n = 8, boys n = 13). Four of the eight girls explained that they did not join a particular sport because they knew the coaches would not have their size uniform. Sarah explained that she tried to join basketball and attended the first team meeting where the players were issued uniforms. She said, “I looked in the bin at all the shirts and I couldn’t find my size so I like didn’t end up doing the sport”. When asked if it made her sad she let out a big sigh and said, “Yeah, cause I wanted to play”. Imani wanted to join volleyball, but explained that she knew the largest uniform size available would be a kid’s medium, and she wore adult sizes. This knowledge made her too uncomfortable to play. In the conversation the researcher asked if custom-ordering a shirt was an option, and she explained, “I just didn’t want to do that”. Ruth also wanted to join basketball, yet explained that “even [if] I were good enough they probably wouldn’t have my size in the uniform”.
All of the participants who did not want to play or decided to quit a sport connected one reason to the uniform style and fit. In most cases (girls n = 9; boys n = 7) it was because the uniform for that sport was too tight. Rebecca explained that her baseball pants were too tight around the waist and this made her not want to play. She did continue to play, but said she mostly felt uncomfortable.
The researcher asked each participant if there was a sport they would not join due to the uniform. Not surprisingly, the swim team was the most salient; this was true for almost all of the boys. Twelve of the boys who either quit or were not interested in joining the swim team stated this was because they would not wear a Speedo-style bathing suit and that uniform regulations did not allow them to wear a shirt. Gus explained, “I don’t want to wear a Speedo ever in my life”. Jackson also stated, “No [he does not want to join] because it [the Speedo] reveals too much of your body and it’s really tight and it’s not comfortable, like you can’t breathe in it”. When Ethan mentioned that he would never join the swim team he was asked why and quickly responded, “Because you have to wear Speedos and go shirtless”. The researcher asked these same boys if they would be interested in joining the swim team if they were allowed to wear swim trunks and a t-shirt, and 10 of them responded with “yes”. Corey quickly responded with an enthusiastic, “Yeah, I would definitely join”.
Eleven of the 13 boys who quit or did not want to play a sport due to the uniform also mentioned that they would not join wrestling. Jackson explained, “Yeah, it just shows too much of your body and it’s tight”. James explained, “Yes, I’d feel uncomfortable wearing the uniform”. The researcher then asked if they would be interested in joining if the uniform was different, and they all responded with a yes. James responded with, “Yeah, I would want to join”. Ryan further explained he would be interested “if it was like loose”.
Positive experiences with athletic clothes
Despite many of the negative feelings about or experiences with physical activity clothing, 24 of the participants (girls n = 17; boys n = 7) mentioned at least one positive experience with athletic clothes they have worn in the past. However, these conversations were short and often reverted to their dislike or discomfort with athletic clothes. All of these participants related to positive experiences with athletic clothes when their fit preferences were met. For example, Michelle mentioned, “If they’re comfortable and you can move around when I run and they’re loose. Then, yeah I like them”. Sarah mentioned that she likes wearing basketball shorts because they are “loose and feel comfy, nothing is showing my fat”. All seven boys who explained that they had positive experiences with some athletic clothes related those feelings to wearing shorts. These same boys said they significantly preferred shorts over pants because they felt pants were usually too tight and hard to move in.