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sports and society

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As a consequence of the demographically related increase of dementia prevalence, modifiable risk factors are gaining in importance as possible preventative measures. Medical treatment cannot yet heal dementia. The effects of vascular risk factors as well as behaviour and lifestyle changes on cognitive decline are the subject of a wide range of current literature. The role of physical activity has proved to be especially beneficial. Multiple studies with different study designs describe direct or indirect positive effects of physical activity on cognitive abilities. The positive effects of physical activity are particularly notable in cognitive domains such as attention or executive functions, which are often impaired in dementia.
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Pendant les années 2011–2013, 151 jeunes talents sportifs et artistes du programme pour talents sportifs et artistiques du Canton du Tessin («Programme pour talents SMS») ont participé à un projet de suivi de leur santé sur le plan psychologique. Les objectifs visés par ce projet étaient l’évaluation du risque de surcharge psychologique de la population observée et le test de l’efficacité d’une intervention psycho-éducative de groupe pour réduire ce risque. Les jeunes talents – subdivisés en un groupe intervention (n=28) et un groupe contrôle (n=123) – ont rempli un questionnaire d’entrée (PRE), mesurant les paramètres psychologiques tels que l’anxiété, les motivations intrinsèques, ainsi que quatre facteurs de burnout et la perception d’un conflit d’intérêt entre pratique sportive/artistique et études. 8 mois après, ils ont été à nouveau interrogés au moyen du même questionnaire (POST), complété par des questions d’évaluation finale. Les réponses aux questionnaires d’entrée ont permis de montrer que 57.6% de l’ensemble des jeunes talents sont potentiellement à risque de surcharge psychologique.
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Objective. Sports injuries are one of the most common injuries in the modern Western society. In line with the increased interest in eHealth, a tailor-based online injury prevention intervention was developed to influence determinants and actual sports injury preventive behaviour. An effect study was carried out among runners. Methods. Runners between 18 and 35 years were randomly assigned to the intervention (n=109) or control group (n=105). Participants in the intervention group were invited to visit the website for 30 minutes. Those in the control group were invited to read magazines that did not contain information about running, injuries or other sport related issues for 30 minutes.
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In Slovenia, the role of general practitioners in counselling physical activity for prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is well recognized. The role of general practitioners in advising healthy lifestyle for individuals who are at risk of developing CVD is formally defined in the National Program for Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease, which has been running since 2001. Part of the program is counselling on healthy lifestyle including physical activity, performed in all health centres across the country. First a screening and medical examination is performed. In case of higher risk for CVD (>20%) the physician should give advice on the particular risk factor and direct patients to health-education centres, where they can participate in healthy lifestyle workshops lead by health professionals.
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Primary care physicians in Germany are potentially in a pivotal position to provide physical activity counselling and exercise referral for their patients. The preventative prescription scheme dates back to the late 1970s. This scheme called “green prescription” (Grünes Rezept), however, could not be established as exercise referral scheme in primary care on a regular and systematic basis. After the German Medical Association (Bundesärztekammer), the German Association for Sports Medicine and Prevention (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sportmedizin und Prävention) and the German Olympic Sports Federation (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund) had developed the standardized national quality criteria of Physical Activity on Prescription in a joint effort, the German Medical Association has adopted them in 2011 and now recommends them to the Medical Associations of the Federal States for implementation.
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In addition to the delivery of primary care services, recent changes to the NHS in the United Kingdom have placed increasing responsibility on GPs for the commissioning of the full range of health services from prevention through to clinical interventions and rehabilitation. Whilst historically there has always been an expectation that primary care professionals were ideally placed to provide support for prevention as well as treatment, their active engagement in the promotion of physical activity has remained largely superficial.
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The role of regular physical activity for population health has been clearly documented. Improvements in population levels of physical activity require long-term implementation of a combination of measures, including the evidence based approaches described in the “seven best investments for physical activity” (www.globalpa.org.uk): whole-of-school programmes, transport, urban planning, integration of physical activity promotion into primary health care systems, public education, community-wide programmes, sport for all. The health care setting has a particular role in this context, particularly in its access to physically inactive individuals.
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Objectives: Growing interest in physical activity has led to the development of a number of organizations, networks and associations, including grass-root, professional and academic institutions. To maximize relevance and effectiveness of work undertaken in this field, we aimed at developing a systematic overview of institutions active in health-enhancing physical activity (HEPA).
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HEPA Europe, the European network for the promotion of health-enhancing physical activity, will have its 10th annual meeting in 2014. Membership of the network has grown to 129 institutions from 32 countries. Collaborations have been established with the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Union (EU), Agita Mundo, the global network for physical activity promotion, other regional networks, and the International Society for Physical Activity and Health. Physical activity has moved up on the public agenda; in 2013 the EU Council adopted its first ever Council Recommendation in sport, notably on promoting health-enhancing physical activity, and in 2014 WHO has begun the development of a Physical Activity Strategy for the European region.
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There is a substantial lack of research comparing the effects of game console-based activities against conventional activities (aerobic, bicycle ergometer) within therapeutic and rehabilitative settings and the results are inconsistent. The aim of the study was to investigate if training with exergames (Nintendo Wii vs. Xbox 360) compared with conventional activities (bicycle ergometer) would have different effects on physiological and psychological parameters. Method: A quantitative three-armed, randomised, not-blinded study design was used. The test persons were randomly assigned to one of three activities: 1) Bicycle ergometer (n = 6); 2. Nintendo Wii game (n = 16); 3. Xbox 360 game (n = 17).
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