BackgroundThe treatment of noncommunicable diseases (NCD), like coronary heart disease or type 2 diabetes mellitus, causes rising costs for the health system. Physical activity is supposed to reduce the risk for these diseases. Results of cross-sectional studies showed that physical activity is associated with better health, and that physical activity could prevent the development of these diseases. The purpose of this review is to summarize existing evidence for the long-term (>5 years) relationship between physical activity and weight gain, obesity, coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.MethodsFifteen longitudinal studies with at least 5-year follow up times and a total of 288,724 subjects (>500 participants in each study), aged between 18 and 85 years, were identified using digital databases. Only studies published in English, about healthy adults at baseline, intentional physical activity and the listed NCDs were included.ResultsThe results of these studies show that physical activity appears to have a positive long-term influence on all selected diseases.ConclusionsThis review revealed a paucity of long-term studies on the relationship between physical activity and the incidence of NCD.

The impact of COVID-19 on social life has been drastic and global. However, the different numbers of cases and different actions in different countries have been leading to various interesting yet unexplored effects on human behavior. In the present study, we compare the physical activity and recreational screen time of a representative sample of 1711 4- to 17-year-olds before and during the strictest time of the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany. We found that sports activity declined whereas recreational screen time increased. However, a substantial increase in habitual physical activities leads to an overall increase in physical activity among children and adolescents in Germany. The effects differ in size but not in their direction between age groups and are stable for boys and girls. We conclude from this natural experiment that physical activity among children and adolescents is highly context-driven and mutual and does not act as a functional opposite to recreational screen time.

BackgroundNot only in adults but also in children and adolescents, obesity increases the risk for several health disorders. In turn, many factors including genetic variations and environmental influences (e.g. physical activity) increase the risk of obesity. For instance, 25 to 40 percent of people inherit a predisposition for a high body mass index (BMI). The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize current cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents and to identify mediator and moderator effects by evaluating the interaction between these three parameters.MethodsThe electronic academic databases PubMed, SportDiscus, WEB OF KNOWLEDGE and Ovid were searched for studies on physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents aged 11 to 19 years (cross-sectional studies) and in adolescents up to 23 years old (longitudinal studies) published in English in or after 2000.ResultsTwelve cross-sectional and two longitudinal studies were included. Only four studies analyzed the interaction among physical activity, fitness and overweight in adolescents and reported inconsistent results. All other studies analyzed the relationship between either physical activity and overweight, or between fitness and overweight. Overweight—here including obesity—was inversely related to physical activity. Similarly, all studies reported inverse relations between physical fitness and overweight. Mediator and moderator effects were detected in the interrelationship of BMI, fitness and physical activity. Overall, a distinction of excessive body weight as cause or effect of low levels of physical activity and fitness is lacking.ConclusionsThe small number of studies on the interrelationship of BMI, fitness and physical activity emphasizes the need for longitudinal studies that would reveal 1) the causality between physical activity and overweight / fitness and overweight and 2) the causal interrelationships among overweight, physical activity and fitness. These results must be carefully interpreted given the lack of distinction between self-reported and objective physical activity and that studies analyzing the metabolic syndrome or cardiovascular disease were not considered. The importance of physical activity or fitness in predicting overweight remains unknown.

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BackgroundThe family environment is important for explaining individual health behaviour. While previous research mostly focused on influences among family members and dyadic interactions (parent-child), the purpose of this study was to develop a new measure, the Family Health Climate Scale (FHC-Scale), using a family-based approach. The FHC is an attribute of the whole family and describes an aspect of the family environment that is related to health and health behaviour. Specifically, a questionnaire measuring the FHC (a) for nutrition (FHC-NU) and (b) for activity behaviour (FHC-PA) was developed and validated.MethodsIn Study 1 (N = 787) the FHC scales were refined and validated. The sample was randomly divided into two subsamples. With random sample I exploratory factor analyses were conducted and items were selected according to their psychometric quality. In a second step, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted using the random sample II. In Study 2 (N = 210 parental couples) the construct validity was tested by correlating the FHC to self-determined motivation of healthy eating and physical activity as well as the families’ food environment and joint physical activities.ResultsExploratory factor analyses with random sample I (Study 1) revealed a four (FHC-NU) and a three (FHC-PA) factor model. These models were cross-validated with random sample II and demonstrated an acceptable fit [FHC-PA: χ2 = 222.69, df = 74, p < .01; χ2/df = 3.01; CFI = .96; SRMR = .04; RMSEA = .07, CI .06/.08; FHC-NU: χ2 = 278.30, df = 113, p < .01, χ2/df = 2.46, CFI = .96; SRMR = .04; RMSEA = .06, CI .05/.07]. The perception of FHC correlated (p < .01) with the intrinsic motivation of healthy eating (r = .42) and physical activity (r = .56). Moreover, parental perceptions of FHC-NU correlated with household soft drink availability (r = -.31) and perceptions of FHC-PA with the frequency of joint physical activities with the child (r = .51). These patterns were found on the intraindividual and interindividual level.ConclusionsTwo valid instruments measuring the FHC within families were developed. The use of different informants’ ratings demonstrated that the FHC is a family level variable. The results confirm the high relevance of the FHC for individuals’ health behaviour. The FHC and the measurement instruments are useful for examining health-related aspects of the family environment.

With the results of this study, nationwide representative prevalence data on physical fitness and physical activity are available. These data contribute to the scientific knowledge on the prevalence and conditions of physical fitness and physical activity.

Regular physical activity has a positive effect on health and wellbeing at any age. For this reason, sports and exercise enhancing measures are inherent parts of public health in Germany. The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) provides a nationally representative database which allows a comprehensive analysis of physical activity behaviour among young people. This may support the planning and implementation of health intervention measures. Primary results of KiGGS indicate that most children aged 3 to 10 years regularly go in for sports: around three quarters of girls and boys go in for sports at least once a week, and even more than one third three times a week or more. Children without sport engagement come disproportionately often from families with low socioeconomic status, with a migration background or from former East Germany. Also among adolescents sports and exercise activity is very common. Among 11-17 year olds, how ever, the current recommendation to conduct physical and or sports activities on most days of the week is only achieved by every fourth boy and every sixth girl. Especially girls with low socioeconomic status and with a migration background show a lack of physical activity. These results underline the importance of sports- and exercise-promoting measures in childhood and adolescence, designed for specific target groups.

While network analysis is a major methodological approach in many disciplines of the social and natural sciences, it has only recently come into the focus of sport researchers. This article assesses the utility of network analysis to analyze sport phenomena. We begin with an overview of social network analysis (SNA) and related concepts. To explore research topics and approaches, we conduct a systematic review of empirical literature of SNA and its application to sport. Based on this review, we provide a sixdimensional conceptual typology of SNA applications in sportcompetition networks, interaction networks, inter-organizational networks, intra-organizational networks, affiliation networks and social environments. Potential future directions for this promising approach in sport research are discussed. Social network analysis (SNA) is a combination of theory and methods in which relations take precedence over, or at least are on par with, the characteristics of actors engaged in them (