LEISURE TIME ACTIVITIES AMONG YOUNG PEOPLE AGED 13-16 FROM KOSOVO, BULGARIA AND POLAND

This paper presents the results of the research on the physical activity of school youth in three European countries (Poland, Bulgaria, Kosovo) which are at different stages of socio-economic development and, therefore, of different possibilities and conditions in terms of leisure and mobility. The purpose of this cognitive study was to diagnose certain aspects of the lifestyle of young people aged 13-16 from Kosovo, Bulgaria and Poland, with a particular focus on physical activity. The practical aim, however, was an indication of such actions, arising from past experience that would aim at improving lifestyle, and could lead to the elimination or prevention of certain causes of physical inactivity by the youth of the countries surveyed. The research was conducted by the use of a diagnostic survey of a group of 524 people aged 13-16, among whom there were 88 people from Bulgaria, 136 people from Poland and 300 people from Kosovo. The research material was collected in 2012. The research that was carried out shows that the level of wealth (not so much of the family, but of the specific country) may have an impact on the choice of activities chosen by the youth. Undoubtedly socio-cultural factors and the tradition of social life, which impose certain ways of spending leisure time (as can be seen particularly in the case of the Bulgarian and Kosovar youth) are also of great importance. The above observations, taking into account local conditions, should be the starting point for all those who plan to introduce changes in the physical education systems in each of these countries in the future.