Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-21-2019

Publication Title

Sports

Publisher

MDPI

Volume

7

Issue

6

First page number:

1

Last page number:

9

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) has been widely recognized as an avenue to improve health. Researchers have also found better health outcomes among adults who participate in sport when compared to adults who participate in other forms of PA. However, little is known about the health differences between those who participate in individual versus team sport. The purpose of the study was to identify differences in chronic diseases, conditions, or risk factors between individual and team sport participants. This study was a secondary analysis of data from the national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey conducted in 2017. PA that was identified as sport was further categorized as an individual or a team sport. Odds and adjusted odds ratios for chronic diseases based on sport category were calculated using logistic regression. There were significant differences in all sociodemographic characteristics between the groups. Those who participated in team sport did so for more minutes and at a higher intensity and were less likely to report several chronic diseases/conditions. However, after controlling for sociodemographic differences between groups, only depression, general health, and smoking remained significant. The social aspect of team sport may be protective against depression but may also influence unhealthy behaviors such as smoking.

Keywords

Individual sport; Team sport; Chronic diseases; Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Disciplines

Demography, Population, and Ecology | Sports Studies

File Format

pdf

File Size

211 KB

Language

English

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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