School of Curriculum Teaching and Inclusive Education, Faculty of Education, Monash University, McMahon's Road, Frankston 3199, Victoria, Australia.
School of Education, Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia.
Health Promot Int. 2024 Jun 1;39(3). doi: 10.1093/heapro/daae048.
Informal sport is a growth area of sport participation but there has been limited examination of how informal and unstructured forms of participation may contribute to health outcomes that are important for public health. This article aims to address the current lack of data examining the health outcomes associated with informal sport participation and consider the potential role of informal sport within efforts to promote healthier communities through sport. The article seeks to broaden understanding of how informal sport participation can contribute to health outcomes, particularly with regard to increasing physical activity and enhancing mental health and social connection. The article discusses the findings of an Australian mixed-method study that draws on observation, survey, interview and focus group data to examine the prospective health and social benefits of informal sport participation for adults. The findings demonstrate that informal sport participation can contribute to physical and mental health outcomes and facilitate social connection. Analysis of the observation data enabled an examination of the economic value of informal sport in relation to the health benefits it affords. The study provides valuable evidence of the value of informal sport for enhancing community health and broadens understanding of how sport can be utilized as a health promotion resource. The article concludes by suggesting that through leveraging existing infrastructure and the self-organizing aspects of informal sport, local government and health stakeholders can harness its potential to improve public health outcomes and address health inequities.
非正式运动是体育参与的一个增长领域，但对于非正式和非结构化的参与形式如何促进对公共健康很重要的健康结果，研究还很有限。本文旨在解决目前缺乏数据来检验与非正式运动参与相关的健康结果，并考虑非正式运动在通过运动促进更健康社区的努力中的潜在作用。本文旨在扩大对非正式运动参与如何促进健康结果的理解，特别是在增加身体活动、增强心理健康和促进社会联系方面。本文讨论了一项澳大利亚混合方法研究的结果，该研究利用观察、调查、访谈和焦点小组数据来检验非正式运动参与对成年人的预期健康和社会效益。研究结果表明，非正式运动参与可以促进身心健康，并促进社会联系。对观察数据的分析使我们能够考察非正式运动的经济效益与其带来的健康效益之间的关系。该研究为增强社区健康的非正式运动的价值提供了有价值的证据，并扩大了对如何利用运动作为促进健康资源的理解。文章最后建议，通过利用现有的基础设施和非正式运动的自我组织方面，地方政府和卫生利益相关者可以利用其潜力来改善公共卫生结果并解决健康不平等问题。
