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How Sport and Physical Activity Contribute to Healthy Lifestyle and Physical Fitness for Public Health

A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Exercise and Health-Related Quality of Life".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 1696

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Clinical Exercise and Rehabilitation Research Centre, School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby Campus, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Interests: the impact and implementation of physical activity interventions; the role of health care professionals in physical activity promotion; physical activity guidelines; health improvement and football community trusts; physical activity and older people; evaluating community physical activity interventions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Clinical Exercise and Rehabilitation Research Centre, School of Sport and Exercise Science, University of Derby, Kedleston Road, Derby Campus, Derby DE22 1GB, UK
Interests: physical activity across the lifespan; health improvements; obesity; motor skills; motor competence; intervention design; the impact and implementation of physical activity interventions; evaluating physical activity and motor competence interventions; the role of health care professionals in physical activity promotion
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Healthy Ageing Challenge aims for people to enjoy at least 5 extra healthy, independent years of life by 2035, while narrowing the gap between the experiences of the richest and poorest. Healthy Ageing identifies the importance of regular physical activity for the maintenance of good health and keeping physically active across the lifespan. Global physical activity guidelines highlight the benefits and the importance of helping all people to adopt and maintain regular physical activity participation throughout the life course. With those thoughts in mind, this Special Issue welcomes submissions that report both the benefits of sport and physical activity for health improvement and physical fitness for all groups. We encourage systematic and scoping reviews as well as original investigations and good-quality evaluation studies. We are especially interested in studies that investigate the impact of innovative sport and physical activity programmes that promote health and fitness, as well as those studies that explore the key implementation considerations when delivering interventions, including what worked, as well as what worked less well and why. Further, we welcome submissions reporting the methods and the outcomes from dialogue with key priority groups regarding their sport and physical activity preferences, and how these could/were met in the intervention design and delivery phase. Finally, we encourage early career researchers to consider submitting their research to this call.

We hope you will consider submitting to this Special Issue, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with Clare or Andy if you have any questions.

Prof. Dr. Andy Pringle
Dr. Clare M.P. Roscoe
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • healthy ageing
  • health improvement
  • physical fitness
  • sport and physical activity programmes
  • implementation considerations
  • interventions evaluation
  • public health

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 252 KiB  
Article
Barriers and Enablers for Physical Activity in Culturally Deaf Adults: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis
by Alex B. Barker, J. Yoon Irons, Clare M. P. Roscoe and Andy Pringle
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22(5), 777; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22050777 - 14 May 2025
Viewed by 345
Abstract
Purpose: Physical activity (PA) is vital for everyone’s health and wellbeing; however, there is, a paucity of research amongst culturally deaf adults. Especially, to understand the needs of deaf adults and how to get them involved in shaping interventions that would help deaf [...] Read more.
Purpose: Physical activity (PA) is vital for everyone’s health and wellbeing; however, there is, a paucity of research amongst culturally deaf adults. Especially, to understand the needs of deaf adults and how to get them involved in shaping interventions that would help deaf people to be physically active. The current study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators for engaging in PA amongst deaf adults. Method: Focus groups involving nine culturally deaf adults communicating using British sign language were conducted and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings: Barriers including physical barriers, lack of deaf spaces and deaf awareness, and a lack of personal motivations were identified. Enablers included group/social support, deaf-led activities and health and wellbeing awareness. The findings highlighted a strong deaf identity. Conclusions: Deaf adults face barriers due to spaces being made for hearing people, leading to feelings of social exclusion and a lack of spaces to engage in activity and socialise, despite being personally and socially motivated to engage in PA. Deaf identity should be considered when promoting PA to deaf adults. The current paper highlights research and practice implications regarding how to engage and work with deaf people to develop appropriate interventions. Full article
15 pages, 3113 KiB  
Article
Where Do Professional Sports Clubs and Organisations Sit Within a Local Health Promotion System? A Social Network Analysis Study
by Jack Brazier, Joey Murphy, Charlie Foster and Nick Townsend
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2025, 22(2), 244; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22020244 - 9 Feb 2025
Viewed by 981
Abstract
Professional sports clubs and organisations (PSCOs) have been identified as effective organisations for health promotion (HP); however, their position and connectivity within local HP systems is largely unknown. Our research aimed to explore (i) who identifies PSCOs as a key partner within the [...] Read more.
Professional sports clubs and organisations (PSCOs) have been identified as effective organisations for health promotion (HP); however, their position and connectivity within local HP systems is largely unknown. Our research aimed to explore (i) who identifies PSCOs as a key partner within the delivery of local HP projects, (ii) who they collaborate with, and (iii) their perceived importance by network members. A social network analysis survey was completed by eighteen stakeholders within a South West region of England. Few organisations identified PSCOs as a key partner; however, influential organisations, such as the local authority, reported ties to them. Generally, PSCOs were not identified by network stakeholders as key organisations in the dissemination of HP knowledge or resources, such as project delivery or staffing. Limited relationships with voluntary and health sector organisations existed, and fostering such multisectoral relationships should be a priority for PSCOs in the future. PSCOs were not clearly integrated within the local HP system sampled and are siloed within their local HP activities and delivery. Future research and practice should explore how PSCOs’ assets could be best utilised with local HP and contribute towards local and national health priorities. Full article
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