The Impact of Sport on the Health and Improvement of Mental Hygiene Among the Student Population – A Systematic Review

Abstract

Due to its appeal, sport has always been in the service of various social fields, both in a negative and a positive sense. A sedentary lifestyle has become noticeably dominant among students. The most frequent external barrier for taking part in physical activities among the student population is a lack of time due to their schedules or due to familial or other obligations. The aim of the research was to use a critical analysis of existing studies and a generalization of the results of all the analysed papers which studied the effectiveness of sport to show the effects of sport and physical activity (PA) on the improvement of the mental hygiene among the student population. The literature was compiled by searching the following databases: Medline, Google Scholar, Web of Science and PubMed. The database search resulted in 198 papers of which 15 were included in the systematic review. The participants included in the systematic review were adults who attended class and were university students. An awareness of health and the positive effects of PA can be a decisive factor for motivating people to become physically more active. PA can help in the prevention and continuation of psychological wellbeing.