Einleitung

Section 6: youth sport, physical activity and health
The authors further develop several of these themes in their chapter, The health-enhancing effects of physical activity among youth. Malina and colleagues explore the ways in which multi-dimensional behaviours such as physical activity, sport participation, and physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour impact on the health of young people, including adiposity, skeletal/bone health and psycho-behavioural health. In discussing major trends in physical activity and the tracking of physical activity between youth and adulthood, Malina et al. emphasize the importance of understanding the shifting social contexts in which sport and physical activity are performed, the meanings this has for young people, and how associations with sport and physical activity change throughout the life course. They conclude that physical activity during adolescence is ‘at best moderately related to activity in young adulthood’, and that ‘participation in sport during adolescence is reasonably predictive of physical activity in young adulthood’. More detailed longitudinal studies of youth that spans adolescence through young adulthood is needed, Malina et al. argue, if we are to better understand the links between participation during youth and subsequent life-stages.