Mental Health News: Researchers from the Medical University of Vienna found that being an active member of a sports club has a positive effect upon mental health besides the beneficial effect of regular exercise on physical health.
Together with the Austrian Federal Sports Organisation (BSO), scientists from MedUni Vienna’s Division of Environmental Hygiene and Environmental Medicine headed up by Hans-Peter Hutter have now investigated the effect that being an active member of a sports club has on our health.
The metastudy includes review of 1,685 papers on the subject of “Sports Clubs and Health”. Based on the review the main health impacts are as follows:
Adolescents who are active members of a sports club are better able to integrate into society and are less likely to go down the wrong path.
Being an active member of a sports club enhances youngsters’ self-confidence — “especially in the case of girls.”
Active membership of a sports club has a beneficial effect upon well-being and mental health (e.g. vitality). Says Hutter: “These effects are much greater than those resulting from individually organised sporting activities.”
Active members of sports clubs are generally (more) content with their lives. Being an active member of a sports club is fun and also provides socialisation, which encourages more regular sporting activities.
The mental health benefits of social aspects of sports clubs were observed in all age groups and in both genders. “Social contacts keep you vital, because you have to respond to your opposite number. This improves your cognitive abilities. Playing sport in a club has general psychosocial benefits — that is also a unique feature of a group activity, ” concludes Hutter.
The study findings have important implications because people today are more active on social media platforms like Whatsapp, Twitter, and Facebook and “real” social contacts are perceptibly declining.
To Know More You May Refer To:
Medical University of Vienna. (2017, August 16). Being in a sports club is good for mental health. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 5, 2021 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170816085251.htm
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