Recent studies have analyzed theoretical models of sport participation. They claimed that sports activities relate to health and happiness and that there are various factors which determine sports participation, be it individual, sociological or psychological. Whilst some countries in Europe experienced an increase in sport activity over the past few decades, others saw a decline in the number of individuals who commit to physical activity. Several models have been constructed to explain and determine involvement in sports namely, 'The Beckerian Approach', 'The SLOTH framework' and 'Green's Model of Sport Development'. These models have unearthed specific important factors, which encourage people to take part in sports activities. These concerned age, gender, time constraints, income and level of education. In fact, findings has shown a positive and statistically significant relationship between age and frequency of sport participation and as age increased walking increased as well. Education plays an important role as well especially where adolescents are concerned. School was a key contributor to adolescents increased participation in physical activity and more specifically as they transitioned into secondary school. A successful example is that of Norway where a sport and physical recreation culture is deeply rooted in society and is supported by strategic socioeconomic circumstances, high standards of living, equality between genders, abundant sporting facilities, a school system that keenly promotes physical activity, a strong voluntary sports clubs sector and high levels of parental contribution. Recent research has also focused on the sociological and psychological factors which contribute to increased physical activity. Social networks and friends significantly impact one's decision to take part in sport, while the involvement of parents in sport affects sport frequency in a positive and significant way.

Currently, there have been various concerns relating to the amount of sports and physical exercise practiced by people in the European Union. Evidence collected by WHO and Eurostate show Malta as having the highest rates of obesity in the European Union. These results are worrying when one considers the consequences of such a condition, ranging from cardiovascular diseases such as angina, stroke and heart attacks to cancer. In this study, we use the economic, neo-classical and heterodox theories to explore sports participation, specifically of Maltese people in handball, badminton and wrestling. We targeted the whole population (n = 565) of registered and active sports participants within the three sport activities during the competitive season 2015-2016. We considered demographic characteristics, economic factors including education, employment and recreational activities, lifestyle factors as well as psychological and sociological factors. Our findings show dependency between gender and sports, the ratio of male to female participating in wrestling is significantly different from that of handball and badminton, dependency between age and sports and wrestling attracts a more mature participant. Given that income is not an issue effecting sports participation, there is a need to be more targeted public policies aimed at encouraging the uptake of sports within Malta as well as an investment by Government to promote sports participation.