Abstract
AbstractThe purpose of this paper was to discuss physical activity and sports participation in a life-course framework, long-term tracking, determinants, and correlates of physical activity from childhood to old age, and present possible causal links and pathways for the continuity of physical activity. It seems that intensive participation in general in physical activity and sports, as well as participation at school age, are important predictors of adulthood participation. Especially, inactivity rather than activity tends to track from youth to adulthood. Socioeconomic status, place of residence, and personal upward social mobility are related to participation. If physical activity is at a low level in early adulthood, it does not easily become a part of life later on, particularly among blue-collar workers, women, and people with initially poor perceived health. Furthermore, in old age, earlier physical activity seems to be the key determinant along with gender. Repeated social reinforcement in the form of support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is important especially in transition periods and life events such as secondary schooling, change in employment, and change in family structure. In contrast, retirement presented itself as a good chance of starting new leisure time activities. A life-course approach provides understanding on long-ranging developmental trajectories. According to these results in particular, the polarization of exercise to the active and inactive portions of the population is accumulated over time, and gender and social background features require special attention.
Highlights
The life-course perspective has been introduced as a temporal research perspective that can potentially help in understanding physical activity behaviors over the lifespan; in particular, it could be useful for the timing of physical activity interventions [1]
In the definition of Caspersen et al [26], physical activity is seen as any voluntary movement produced by the skeletal muscles that result in increased energy expenditure, and exercise is described as a subcategory of physical activity which is planned, structured, and repetitive, with the intent of improving or maintaining one or more patterns of physical fitness or function
The results indicated that a high level of physical activity at ages 9–18, especially when it was continuous, significantly predicted a high level of adult physical activity and that the level of activity in adulthood did not depend on the type of physical activity at a young age
Summary
The life-course perspective has been introduced as a temporal research perspective that can potentially help in understanding physical activity behaviors over the lifespan; in particular, it could be useful for the timing of physical activity interventions [1]. The best opportunity to study lifecourse events and exposures in epidemiology is provided by birth cohort studies that can link development and environment to later health outcomes [2]. Longitudinal studies create an opportunity to investigate prospectively or retrospectively life-course patterns of physical activity over time and across various life events and transitions. The transitions (retirement) or events (child birth, death of spouse) at later stages of the life course can shape the direction of trajectories [5, 6]. A life-course approach to physical activity and sports participation means studying the tracking of physical activity and the long-term determinants and correlates of physical activity. Transitions, for example, retirement and life changes, are seen as an opportunity for positive and negative changes in physical activity
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