The purpose of this paper was to discuss physical activity and sports participation in a life-course framework, long-term tracking, determinants, and correlates of physical activity from childhood to old age, and present possible causal links and pathways for the continuity of physical activity. It seems that intensive participation in general in physical activity and sports, as well as participation at school age, are important predictors of adulthood participation. Especially, inactivity rather than activity tends to track from youth to adulthood. Socioeconomic status, place of residence, and personal upward social mobility are related to participation. If physical activity is at a low level in early adulthood, it does not easily become a part of life later on, particularly among blue-collar workers, women, and people with initially poor perceived health. Furthermore, in old age, earlier physical activity seems to be the key determinant along with gender. Repeated social reinforcement in the form of support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is important especially in transition periods and life events such as secondary schooling, change in employment, and change in family structure. In contrast, retirement presented itself as a good chance of starting new leisure time activities. A life-course approach provides understanding on long-ranging developmental trajectories. According to these results in particular, the polarization of exercise to the active and inactive portions of the population is accumulated over time, and gender and social background features require special attention.

In recent years, researchers have begun applying a trajectory approach to identify homogeneous subgroups of physical activity (PA) in heterogeneous populations. This study systematically reviewed the articles identifying longitudinal PA trajectory classes and the related factors (e.g., determinants, predictors, and outcomes) in the general population during different life phases. The included studies used finite mixture models for identifying trajectories of PA, exercise, or sport participation. Three electronic databases, PubMed (Medline), Web of Science, and CINAHL, were searched from the year 2000 to 13 February 2018. The study was conducted according to the PRISMA recommendations. Twenty-seven articles were included and organized into three age group: youngest (eleven articles), middle (eight articles), and oldest (eight articles). The youngest group consisted mainly of youth, the middle group of adults and the oldest group of late middle-aged and older adults. Most commonly, three or four trajectory classes were reported. Several trajectories describing a decline in PA were reported, especially in the youngest group, whereas trajectories of consistently increasing PA were observed in the middle and oldest group. While the proportion of persistently physically inactive individuals increased with age, the proportion was relatively high at all ages. Generally, male gender, being Caucasian, non-smoking, having low television viewing time, higher socioeconomic status, no chronic illnesses, and family support for PA were associated either with persistent or increasing PA. The reviewed articles identified various PA subgroups, indicating that finite mixture modeling can yield new information on the complexity of PA behavior compared to studying population mean PA level only. The studies also provided novel information how different factors relate to changes in PA during life course. The recognition of the PA subgroups and their determinants is important for the more precise targeting of PA promotion and PA interventions. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018088120 .

Physical inactivity is a major health risk worldwide. Observational studies suggest that higher education is positively related to physical activity, but it is not clear whether this relationship constitutes a causal effect. Using participants (N = 1651) drawn from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study linked to nationwide administrative data from Statistics Finland, this study examined whether educational attainment, measured by years of education, is related to adulthood physical activity in terms of overall physical activity, weekly hours of intensive activity, total steps per day, and aerobic steps per day. We employed ordinary least squares (OLS) models and extended the analysis using an instrumental variables approach (Mendelian randomization, MR) with a genetic risk score as an instrument for years of education. Based on the MR results, it was found that years of education is positively related to physical activity. On average, one additional year of education leads to a 0.62‐unit higher overall physical activity (P < .01), 0.26 more hours of weekly intensive activity (P < .05), 560 more steps per day (P < .10), and 390 more aerobic steps per day (P < .09). The findings indicate that education may be a factor leading to higher leisure‐time physical activity and thus promoting global health.

Introduction: Despite substantial interest in the development of health behaviors, there is limited research that has examined the longitudinal relationship between physical activity (PA) and smoking trajectories from youth to adulthood in a Finnish population. This study aimed to identify trajectories of smoking and PA for males and females, and study the relationship between these trajectories from youth to adulthood. Methods: Latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to identify trajectories of smoking and PA separately for males and females among 3355 Finnish adults (52.1% females). Participants’ smoking and PA were assessed five to eight times over a 31-year period (3–18 years old at the baseline, 34–49 years at last follow-up). Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to study the relationship between the trajectories of smoking and PA. Results: Five smoking trajectories and four to five PA trajectories were identified for males and females. Of the PA trajectory groups, the persistently active group were least likely to follow the trajectories of regular smoking and the inactive and low active groups were least likely to follow non-smoking trajectory group. Likewise, inactive (women only) and low active groups were less likely to belong to the non-smokers group. Conclusions: The study suggests that those who are persistently active or increasingly active have substantially reduced probabilities of being in the highest-risk smoking categories.

Given the documented decline in levels of physical activity in early adolescence, promoting physical activity in young people is a priority for health promotion. School physical education (PE) is an important existing network in which participation in physical activity beyond school can be promoted to the captive young people. The objective of current article is to present the protocol for a PE teacher-delivered theory-based trial to promote secondary school students’ participation in physical activity out-of-school contexts. The intervention will be guided by the trans-contextual model explaining the processes by which PE teachers’ support for autonomous motivation in the classroom promotes students’ motivation to engage in out-of-school physical activity. We hypothesize that school students receiving the teacher-delivered intervention to promote autonomous motivation toward physical activity will exhibit greater participation in physical activities outside of school, relative to students receiving a control intervention. The trial will adopt a waitlist-control design with cluster-randomization by school. PE teachers assigned to the intervention condition will receive a two-week, 12-h training program comprising basic information on how to promote out-of-school physical activity and theory-based training on strategies to promote students’ autonomous motivation toward physical activity. Teachers assigned to the waitlist control condition will receive an alternative training on how to monitor physical functional capacity in children with special needs. PE teachers (n = 29) from eleven schools will apply the intervention program to students (n = 502) in PE classes for one month. Physical activity participation, the primary outcome variable, and psychological mediators from the trans-contextual model will be measured at pre-trial, post-trial, and at one-, three- and six-months post-trial. We will also assess teachers’ autonomy-supportive techniques and behaviours by observation. The study will make a unique contribution to the literature by testing a theory-based intervention delivered by PE teachers to promote school students’ participation in out-of-school physical activity. Information will be useful for educators, community stakeholders and policy makers interested in developing programs to promote students’ out-of-school physical activity. ISRCTN39374060 . Registered 19.7.2018.

Participation in physical activities provides students with opportunities for social interaction and social skills development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the associations of students' recess physical activity with school-related social factors.