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catholic university of lublin, Poland authors' contribution wkład autorów: a. Study design/planning zaplanowanie badań B. Data collection/entry zebranie danych c. Data analysis/statistics dane-analiza i statystyki D. Data interpretation interpretacja danych E. Preparation of manuscript przygotowanie artykułu F. literature analysis/search wyszukiwanie i analiza literatury G. Funds collection zebranie funduszy Summary Background. the article aims to make a comparative analysis of the physical activity of Poles in the last fifty years in the light of public opinion polls carried out in the years 1960-2016 by the centres for Public opinion Research in Poland − cBoS and oBoP. Before the study was conducted, the following questions were formulated: Do Poles do sports or get involved in other activities demanding physical effort? what motivates them? what sports skills do they possess? what is their attitude towards the persons visiting the gym? Finally, have their Pa changed in the researched period, and to what extent? In the analysis, the criteria of sex, age, education and material status were considered. Material and methods. the following research methods were applied: a quantitative content analysis of secondary data, a qualitative content analysis, as well as comparative and analytical-descriptive methods. Results. In the analysed period, the number of Poles regularly practising sports grew by 33.5% (from 6.5% in 1960 to 40% in 2013). the percentage of those who do not follow any activity comprises a third of adult Poles (34%); however, their number was twice lower in the year 2013 compared to the year 1960 (66%). Conclusions. Before conducting the research, it was assumed that, despite popular opinion and the one presented in the media concerning the low physical activity in the society, the number of Poles taking up physical activity has decidedly risen in the last half-century. Having analysed the opinion polls data, it can be stated that the hypothesis was confirmed.