Do generations differ in sports participation and physical activity over the life course? Evidence from multiple datasets

Abstract

Generational differences in health-related factors will affect forecasts of future disease patterns and health care needs. We studied whether participation in sports activity and being physically active are different between 10-year generations over a part of their life course. We used three different datasets on Dutch adults: a cohort study running for 20 years, the Doetinchem Cohort Study (DCS), multiple yearly databases (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015) from the Netherlands health interview study (HIS), and a retrospective cohort study on life time sports careers, the Sports Participation Monitor (SPM). Based on a different questionnaire in each study, frequencies of weekly sport participation and being physically active according to recommended levels were determined by generation and sex. All data sets showed that self-reported sport participation has been increasing with every 10-year generation already for many decades. Especially for those generations born in the 1930s up to the 1960s, sport participation is higher compared to their predecessors. For instance at age 50, 43% of those born in the 1940s engaged in sports activities compared to 55% of those born in the 1950s (DCS data). Physical activity according to recommended levels showed no systematic differences by generation.In conclusion, favourable generation-specific trends in participation in sports activities are found: recent generations are doing better than the older generations. It is unclear whether this also reflects higher levels of physical activity or lower levels of inactivity. Future research may reveal whether these developments also hold for other countries, and whether these developments continue for the younger generations.

Association of Early Sports Participation With Sedentary Behavior in Community-Dwelling Adults—The Role of Sociodemographic Factors in a Retrospective Epidemiological Study

“…Another hypothesis regarding the association of early sports participation with younger aged adults could be related to an increase in sports participation in youth in recent decades, as observed by Mathisen et al, 46 which reported an increase of up to 20% in sports participation from 1985/1986 to 2014. Convergently, van Oostrom et al 47 observed an increase in self-reported sports participation for many decades, which may be related to higher sports participation in younger adults than older ones.…”

The association between the child’s age and mothers’ physical activity: results from the population-based German National Cohort study

“…This could be simply an effect of ageing, but also there could be differences between cohorts. Older generations were found to engage in less physical activity than recent generations [ 52 ] and previous research reported the tendency to maintain active behaviors over the life course [ 53 ].…”

Association of Early Sports Practice with Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Community-Dwelling Adults: A Retrospective Epidemiological Study

“…Another important aspect to highlight is that participants who reported early sports practice were significantly younger than those who reported not having early sports practice (36.4 vs. 50.3 years of age). In addition, it has been reported that self-reported sports participation has been increasing for many decades [ 52 ], and, in this sense, it is possible that younger adults were more likely to have practiced sports during their youth than older adults.…”