Physical Fitness and Healthy Lifestyles in Childhood and Adolescence

Dear Colleagues,

The promotion of sustainable healthy lifestyles is a priority in our societies, given the negative consequences of habits such as sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition, substance abuse, and addictions, among others. These problems are exacerbated when it comes to children and young people, a population among whom sedentary lifestyles, sitting, and screen use are of increasing concern.

In addition, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has deepened some of the already existing gaps in youth physical activity levels and healthy lifestyles according to gender, socio-economic levels, and rural and urban settings, as well as other factors. On the other hand, we are witnessing a constant bombardment in the media and communication networks about self-care, better nutrition, and new fitness activities, especially targeting the young, digital native population. 

Unfortunately, these are not simple problems to tackle given their multifaceted nature, which is influenced by personal factors (perceived state of health and physical condition, motivation, etc.), cultural factors (community traditions and customs, for example), and social factors (socialisation models, facilities, public programmes, policies, etc.). Moreover, in many cases, trends and the contagious nature of the most widespread practices mean that these practices are not sustainable over time, either due to a decline in motivation or to a lack of viability in the use of resources for their maintenance, or for reasons related to ineffective public policies. In this sense, there is evidence that physical activity plays an important role in establishing and maintaining healthy habits and the barriers that hinder them, and that this practice must be sustainable but also educate in the establishment of habits that respect the physical and social environments where they are carried out. 

We will accept manuscripts from different disciplines. This Special Issue will complement others published in the journal, focusing on a risky population: children and adolescents. Special attention will be paid to original research, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses involving the following topics for this Special Issue in Sustainability:

• Racial and national identity and culture in relation to sports, and parental and family support and its impact on cultural or social sustainability.
• Changing consumption patterns in physical activity and sports.
• Impact of globalisation on youth fitness patterns at a local, regional, or national level.
• Sustainable physical fitness and healthy lifestyles in children and adolescents and their evaluation.
• Healthy lifestyle promotion in children and adolescents.
• Public policies in the field of healthy habits in childhood and adolescence.
• Relationship between physical fitness and healthy lifestyles, stratified using sociodemographic characteristics.
• Adherence to physical activity in childhood and adolescence.

Dr. Amador Jesús Lara Sánchez
Dr. Celia Marcen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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.

• physical fitness
• health
• habits
• lifestyles
• promotion
• evaluation
• globalisation
• identity