This paper investigates potential mental health benefits of outdoor and adventure education programs. It is argued that experiences made in successful programs can increase self‐efficacy, mindfulness and subjective well‐being. Furthermore, programs may reduce feelings of time pressure and mental stress amongst participants. Evidence comes from two pilot studies: In the school project “Crossing the Alps” (Study 1), 14‐year‐old participants reported an increase in life satisfaction, mindfulness and a decrease in the PSQ Subscale ‘demand’ after a successful nine‐day hike through the German, Austrian, and Italian Alps. In the university project “Friluftsliv” (Study 2) participants scored higher in life satisfaction, happiness, mindfulness, and self‐efficacy and lower in perceived stress after having spent eight days in the wilderness of the Norwegian Hardangervidda region, miles away from the next locality. The findings suggest that outdoor education and wilderness programs can foster mental health in youths and young adults.

Due to the massive spread of a new Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), many European governments enacted rules and legislations in order to reduce social interactions and contain the spread of the virus. German authorities put in force a lockdown of all non-essential infrastructure, starting on 22 March 2020. These policies included the closing of sports clubs, fitness centres and community sports grounds. Most federal states prohibited social gatherings of more than two people, thereby further restricting opportunities to play sport and exercise together. The paper addresses how Germans adapted their leisure time sport and exercise (LTSE) activities in this unprecedented situation. Based on survey data representing the adult population (⩾ 14 years, N=1001, data collection 27 March to 6 April 2020), the paper shows a significant decline in LTSE activities at population level. Overall, 31% of Germans reduced their LTSE, while 27% maintained and 6% intensified their LTSE level. A share of 36% was not engaged in LTSE, either before or at the beginning of the lockdown. Younger age groups were more likely to maintain LTSE levels compared with older ones. Comparisons of ‘reducers’ and ‘maintainers/ intensifiers’ indicate that the latter group increased home-based workouts and outdoor endurance sports, while ‘reducers’ did not find adequate substitutes for their sporting routines.

Observational and experimental studies show that leisure time sporting activity (LTSA) is associated with higher well-being. However, scholars often seem to assume that 1) LTSA fosters “general” life satisfaction, thereby ignoring effects on domain satisfaction; 2) the effect of LTSA on well-being is linear and independent of a person’s general activity level; 3) the amount of LTSA is more important than the repertoire of LTSA, i.e. the number of different activities; 4) all kinds of LTSA are equal in their effects, irrespective of spatial and organisational context conditions. Using data from the German SALLSA-Study (“Sport, Active Lifestyle and Life Satisfaction”), a large-scale CAWI-Survey (N = 1008) representing the population ≥ 14 years, the paper takes a closer look on these assumptions. Findings demonstrate that LTSA is associated with general life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction (concerning relationships, appearance, leisure, work and health), but that the relationship is most pronounced for leisure satisfaction. Associations of sport with life satisfaction, leisure satisfaction and subjective health are non-linear, approaching an injection point from which on additional LTSA is no longer beneficial. Moreover, findings lend support to the notion that diversity in LTSA matters, as individuals with higher variation in sports activities are more satisfied. Finally, results with regard to spatial and organizational context suggest that outdoor sports and club-organized sports have additional benefits.

Physical activity is a health relevant factor, particularly in affluent societies where overweight and obesity are increasingly prevalent, even among children. Understanding the development of physical activity patterns in childhood is thus an important issue for health promotion. Following socialization theory, this study describes and explains differences in objectively measured moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a socially and ethnically mixed sample of 6- to 11-year-old children in Germany. MVPA levels were objectively measured with accelerometers over the course of six consecutive days (Wednesday to Monday). Parents’ attitudes and practices as well as the family’s socio-economic status (SES) were assessed from the parents via questionnaires. Results indicate that MVPA levels of children vary with gender, but not with age and ethnicity. Moreover, parental SES, parental support for the child’s sports activities, parents’ own sport activities and the parents’ belief in sports’ capacities to foster personality development, character building and social integration significantly predict the MVPA level of children. It is concluded that interventions to promote MVPA among children need to take family interactions and lifestyles into account and should address families in socio-economically underprivileged areas.

Health authorities recommend digital tools for home-based sport and exercise routines to stay active and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study investigates the prevalence, duration, most popular activities, and social selectivity of home-based digital sport and its contribution to overall levels of sporting activity during the pandemic. It is based on cross-sectional survey data (n = 1508), representing the population >14 years living in Germany. Data collection took place in October 2020, using computer-assisted web interviewing. Results show that overall, 23% of respondents used digital media for sports activities at least one time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Numbers increased during the lockdown and decreased afterwards. People engaged in a variety of fitness workouts, most frequently practiced with the help of publicly accessible fitness videos from video-sharing platforms. Digital sports practitioners are younger, better educated, and financially better off. Females are overrepresented. Individuals engaged in digital sports achieved 30 min/week more sports activity during the pandemic compared to individuals solely involved in offline sports. Hence, home-based digital sports activities were a popular means to stay active, particularly in the period of the lockdown. Strong social disparities indicate that the possible health benefits of digital sports only reach out to particular population groups.

Guided by a social inequality perspective that combines Bourdieu’s conception of socially shaped tastes and lifestyles with Peterson’s notion of omnivorous consumption, this paper addresses the link between social inequality and participation in specific subfields of sport. Ten popular sports and adjacent activity subfields are analysed and compared. Based on representative data from Germany, the paper points out that participation in different fields of sport is socially structured, however to different degrees and in different ways. Almost all fields of sport appeal to individuals with above-average levels of cultural capital, whereas lower social classes dominate the group of inactive individuals. Football is least structured by cultural and economic capital, while racket sports, nature-related activities, yoga, fitness and water sports are socially most selective. Beyond social class, gender is also key for structuring participation. Finally, findings show that cultural capital is closely associated with multiple engagements in a broader range of different sports, thus buttressing the notion that omnivorous participation signifies a higher social status.