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Studies of Physical Fitness Improvement and Healthy Lifestyle from a Sustainable Science Sports Perspective

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Health, Well-Being and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 7300

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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Lovro Štefan

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1. Department of General and Applied Kinesiology, Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia
2. Faculty of Sports Studies, Masaryk University, 62 500 Brno, Czech Republic
3. Faculty of Science, Department of Recruitment and Examination (RECETOX), 62 500 Brno, Czech Republic
Interests: physical fitness; children; adolescents; physical activity; sports participation; health; longitudinal analysis
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Dear Colleagues,

Physical fitness has become a well-documented marker of health in the past two decades. It is defined as ‘the capacity to perform daily physical activity without a significant effort’, and is based on several components: cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, flexibility, speed and body composition. Evidence suggests that higher levels of physical fitness in youth may have beneficial effects on cardiovascular, pulmonary and metabolic diseases, and can even reduce the risk of all-cause mortality.

Among many factors being associated with physical fitness, those included in a healthy lifestyle (appropriate diet, regular physical activity and sport participation, adequate sleep, less time spent in sedentary behaviors) are probably the most important which affect the level of physical fitness. Although an effort has been made to increase physical fitness, secular trends in the past two decades have suggested a significant decline in cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, while an increase in body composition (predominantly body mass index and the percentage of fat mass) has been observed. Moreover, the prevalence of participating in sport steadily declined in the past years, where the most critical period for not being persistent in a sporting activity is the transition between primary and secondary education.

Given the importance of physical fitness on health, special interventions and policies aiming to target a ‘risky’ group of children and adolescents with lower levels of physical fitness should be a priority in school-based settings and in extracurricular activities. Specifically, both cross-sectional and bidirectional associations between physical fitness and sport participation would give a better understanding of how these two variables are interconnected.

Dr. Lovro Štefan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

physical fitness
sports participation
youth
physical activity
performance

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 919 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Beyond the Screen: Do Esports Participants Really Have More Physical Health Problems?

by Di Tang, Kim-wai Raymond Sum, Ruisi Ma and Wai-keung Ho

Sustainability 2023, 15(23), 16391; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152316391 - 28 Nov 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1312

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the association between esports participation and physical health and examine the difference in physical health problems between esports participants and non-esports participants. A total of 1549 young adults participated in this investigation. A total of 633 participants were categorized as esports participants, and they were involved in six types of esports games: shooting games, multiplayer online battle arena games, strategy card games, sports games, real-time strategy games, and fighting games. An online survey was conducted to gather data on their demographic information, gaming behavior, traditional sports behavior, and physical health problems. The results demonstrated that esports players reported significantly higher participation in traditional sports compared to non-esports players. No significant differences were found in sleep duration or the selected physical health issues between the two groups. Overall, the findings suggest that esports participation was not associated with negative physical health in this sample of young adults. Furthermore, this study found that players who conscientiously took intermittent breaks and maintained a standardized sitting posture during gameplay had a lower likelihood of reporting neck and back pain. These findings have important implications for challenging conventional negative perceptions of esports and promoting a more objective understanding and appreciation of esports and the sustainable development of esports players. Future research is necessary to explore potential causal relationships between esports participation and health outcomes and to develop a healthier esports practice modality from a sports science perspective. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies of Physical Fitness Improvement and Healthy Lifestyle from a Sustainable Science Sports Perspective)

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18 pages, 1293 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Enhancing Physical Fitness and Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in Junior Tennis Players: Evaluating the Influence of “Plyospecific” Training on Youth Agility

by Aurel Marin, Valentina Stefanica and Ioana Rosculet

Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 9925; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139925 - 21 Jun 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1408

Abstract

Physical fitness is a crucial component of tennis performance, and improving agility and lateral movement can give young tennis players a competitive edge. By training with plyospecific exercises, which focus on explosive movements and plyometric exercises, junior players can improve their speed, power, and reaction time on the court. The paper aimed to evaluate the effects and benefits of a 10-week physical training program on the agility of junior tennis players, using the results of seven agility tests, applying statistical t-tests for paired and independent samples, and the difference-in-differences approach. In order to achieve this, a sample of 48 U16 male Portuguese tennis junior players was used. The empirical results indicated that the training program had a positive impact on the agility of the tennis players. Specifically, the results showed improvements in the T-test performance on both the right and left sides, as well as improvements in the Edgren test scores on the left and right sides. Additionally, there was an increase in the average number of lateral and forward movements, suggesting enhanced agility among the players. These findings highlight the effectiveness of the training program in improving agility-related skills and performance in tennis. Coaches can incorporate similar training methods and exercises to improve their players’ agility, leading to better performance on the court. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies of Physical Fitness Improvement and Healthy Lifestyle from a Sustainable Science Sports Perspective)

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17 pages, 4919 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Structure and Characteristics of Adolescent Physical Health Policy in China Based on Policy Text Tool

by Yuting Hu and Xinyu Ma

Sustainability 2023, 15(11), 8657; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15118657 - 26 May 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1159

Abstract

The health of young people is an important guarantee for national development and rejuvenation. In the past five years, the Chinese government has issued a series of policies on adolescent physical health, which have effectively promoted the development of adolescent health. In this study, we collected national policies on adolescent physical health from 2016 to 2022 as research objects. Based on the theory of policy instruments, this paper constructs a three-dimensional framework of “policy instrument-adolescent physical health contents-adolescent physical health policy target audience”. The study found that the use of adolescent health policy tools in China is uneven, as most policies are biased towards supply-side policies. The lack of targeted protection policies for adolescents’ physical health is due to the lagging development of physical standards, lack of monitoring technology, and complex governance policies. Policy use by governments, schools, and communities is widely distributed, resulting in a lag in the overall effectiveness of adolescent physical health policies. To this end, we put forward the following suggestions: First, the use of policy instruments should be optimized. Secondly, on the basis of adolescent health monitoring, the physical health standards suitable for national conditions should be formulated. Moreover, we should improve the governance model and guarantee a system to fill the policy blank of the implementation of adolescent physical health. Finally, we should promote the coordinated development of mental health with “moral” as the core. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies of Physical Fitness Improvement and Healthy Lifestyle from a Sustainable Science Sports Perspective)

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12 pages, 298 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Associations between Age, Body Composition, Balance, and Other Physical Fitness Parameters in Youth Soccer

by Cíntia França, Francisco Martins, Adilson Marques, Marcelo de Maio Nascimento, Andreas Ihle, Krzysztof Przednowek and Élvio Rúbio Gouveia

Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13379; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013379 - 17 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1229

Abstract

In sports, balance ability has been related to game performance and injury prevention. This study’s aims were twofold: (1) to analyze the balance performance of adolescent soccer players from different age groups; and (2) to examine the relationship between players’ age, body composition, balance, and other physical fitness parameters, such as strength and flexibility. In this study, 112 players from the under 15 (U15), under 16 (U16), and under 17 (U17) age groups participated. A one-way analysis of the variance was conducted to investigate differences between groups. Pearson correlations and hierarchical multiple regression were used to explore the relationship between variables. Regarding balance, the older group performed significantly worse in the stability indexes for both legs but significantly better in dynamic balance tests. Height correlated significantly and negatively with balance indicators. Both jumping tasks showed medium to large correlations with the sway indexes (−0.23 > r < −0.51). Although not significantly, body fat negatively affected balance, underlining the importance of monitoring body composition for players’ development. Overall, no substantial relationship was found between static and dynamic balance variables, and therefore, it is crucial to include both as complementary measures while evaluating youngsters’ postural balance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies of Physical Fitness Improvement and Healthy Lifestyle from a Sustainable Science Sports Perspective)

12 pages, 888 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Higher Running Speed and Cardiovascular Endurance Are Associated with Greater Level of Academic Achievement in Urban Catalan Primary School Children

by Jordi Arboix-Alió, Bernat Buscà, Josep Solà, Mariona Peralta-Geis, Adrià Arboix and Azahara Fort-Vanmeerhaeghe

Sustainability 2022, 14(14), 8454; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148454 - 11 Jul 2022

Viewed by 1344

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between physical fitness and academic achievement in a sample of primary-school children. Data of 116 sixth-grade primary-school students (68 girls, 48 boys) from Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) with a mean (SD) age of 11.4 years (0.4) was analyzed. To determine academic achievement, proficiency scores in the subjects Catalan language, Spanish language, English language, and Maths were derived from the Test de Compètencies Bàsiques. Physical fitness was assessed using the Cooper test (aerobic capacity), 20-m sprint test (linear velocity), and 4 × 10-m test (agility). The results showed that participants with a higher performance in the Cooper and 20-m sprint tests had significantly better academic achievement in the assessed subjects (p < 0.05; d range = 0.93 to −2.98). The findings of this investigation are interesting from a curricular perspective since a positive association between academic achievement and physical fitness indicates a strong reason to raise the physical education status in educational systems, a subject that has traditionally been considered less important by the educational community. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Studies of Physical Fitness Improvement and Healthy Lifestyle from a Sustainable Science Sports Perspective)

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