Valuing the contribution of sport volunteering to subjective wellbeing: evidence from eight European countries.

Introduction: Volunteering is a prominent and integral aspect of the activities undertaken by sports clubs in Europe. However, even with its growing importance, quantifying the monetary worth of this nonmarket activity, in terms of wellbeing, can present certain difficulties. Traditional approaches to valuing volunteering (i.

Light, moderate and vigorous physical activities: New insights into a virtuous circle with happiness.

The study of the physical activity engagement (PA) has given rise to a relevant research agenda in a wide range of fields, such as its close relationship with subjective well-being, self-perceived health and social capital. Previous evidence has identified interrelationships among these variables, but without considering different levels of physical activity. We have thus considered three levels of activity: light (walking), moderate and vigorous.

Physical activity disparities across Europe: clustering European regions by health-related physical activity levels.

In the context of stagnating global levels of physical activity (PA), this study examines the geographical segmentation of PA at the regional level (196 regions) in Europe. Cluster analysis and multinomial logistic regression are applied. Cluster analysis provides a taxonomy of four differentiated groups according to the health-related PA levels of the European regions.

Is Passive Sport Engagement Positively Associated with Happiness?

Background: Previous empirical evidence has shown the positive relationship between happiness or subjective well-being (SWB) and sport participation. Nevertheless, passive sport participation has traditionally been ignored as a correlate with happiness.

Methods: Based on a sample of 1,632 Spanish people, one ordered probit model and three extended ordered probit models with an ordinal endogenous covariate technique and robust standard errors were applied.

Sport Promotion through Sport Mega-Events. An Analysis for Types of Olympic Sports in London 2012.

A substantial amount of attention has been devoted towards the potential sport legacy of the Olympic Games. In spite of the increasing academic interest in this topic, there is a knowledge gap as far as sport legacy is concerned by types of different sports. The authors bridge this gap by analysing the evolution of 43 different Olympic/Paralympic sport modalities in the two-year period after the London 2012 Olympics.

Patterns of sports involvement in Spain.

In a context of a rise in physical inactivity, this paper aims to provide new insights about the relationship between different forms of sport engagements and their correlates, analysing, for the first time, both active and passive sport involvement for a large sample of individuals. Applying the cluster technique, we identify four different segments of sports involvement among the Spanish population: non-sporty, exclusively practitioner, balanced practitioner, and basically spectator. Also, we develop a multinomial logit model to analyse the main sociodemographic, physical, and sports features that could increase the individual sport involvement, from the non-sporty segment, which assembles the highest number of individuals, to the other clusters.

How the relationship between physical activity and health changes with age.

In the context of age-related declines in physical activity (PA) and the dramatic increase in ageing populations in many countries, this paper sheds further light on the link between PA and self-perceived health (SPH) by examining whether the magnitude of this relationship is age specific. With a sample of 14,456 Spanish individuals aged 18-69, we estimated three levels of intensity in PA using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Individuals who did more PA per week showed higher levels of SPH ( = 0.

Sports participation, physical activity, and health in the European regions.

In a context of stagnation of the level of health-enhancing physical activity in Europe, this study examines the geographical stratification of sports participation and physical activity (PA) at the regional level in 28 European countries. While previous research has focused on the national approach, this study considers the regional level across 208 European regions. Individual survey data from the Eurobarometer 80.

Does regional disadvantage affect health-related sport and physical activity level? A multi-level analysis of individual behaviour.

This study examines the role of regional government quality in health-related participation in sport and physical activity among adults (18-64 years) in 28 European countries. The importance of the analysis rests in the relative autonomy that regional and local governments have over policy decisions connected with sport and physical activity. While existing studies have focussed on economic and infrastructural investment and expenditure, this research investigates the quality of regional governments across 208 regions within 28 European countries.

Does government spending help to promote healthy behavior in the population? Evidence from 27 European countries.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine if government spending is associated with an individual's decision to participate in physical activity and sport which is regarded as healthy behavior given the positive health effects documented in previous research.

Methods: Individual-level data (n = 25 243) containing socio-demographic information are combined with national-level data on government spending (5-year average) in 27 European countries. Given the hierarchical data structure, i.

The correlates of sports participation in Europe.

Based on the Eurobarometer data from 2009 (N = 26,788), this paper investigates the correlates of sports participation. In addition to examining standard socio-demographic, economic and lifestyle factors, the paper also focuses on the impact of motivational factors, the availability of sports infrastructure and government support, for the first time collectively at the European level. A further contribution of the paper is that it simultaneously investigates both the decision to participate in sport and the frequency of sports participation in this context.