Beyond climate change and active transport: Physical activity as sustainable behaviour

Mini-Oral Presentation B2.5

Authors

  • Carina Nigg Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • Claudio R. Nigg University of Bern

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/hfjc.v14i3.612

Keywords:

Physical Activity, Sustainable Behavior, Planetary Health, Sustainable Development Goals, Sustainable Development

Abstract

Background: Individuals’ physical activity (PA) and sustainable behavior (SuB) are important for human’s well-being. To date, research in PA has mostly focused on health outcomes. However, considering the interdependence of human’s and nature’s health within the planetary health concept, we evaluated how PA can be conceptualized as SuB and how PA relates to other types of SuB within the United Nations’ comprehensive sustainable development goal (SDG) framework. Policy components: PA should be considered as part of SuBs related to the SDGs. Evaluation: Regarding social SDGs, mostly (organized) sports and exercise activities were identified as sustainable PAs that also relate to other SuBs (e.g. skill acquisition, cultural practices) contributing to combat malnutrition (SDG 2), health behaviors (SDG 3), education (SDG 4), reducing inequalities (SDG 10), sustainable cities (SDG 12), and peace (SDG 16). For ecological SDGs, mostly leisure and commuting PAs were identified as sustainable PAs that also relate to other SuBs (e.g. bike sharing, pro-environmental behavior) contributing to sustainable consumption (SDG 11) and combating climate change (SDG 13). Conclusions: Our results suggest that PA is more than a health behavior, but a behavior that allows each person individually to contribute to planetary health and sustainable development. Thus, we recommend establishing PA and SuB as a future research field to investigate 1) PA as social and ecological SuB, 2) sustainable PA promotion, 3) measurement of sustainable PA, 4) common underlying constructs and contextual factors of PA and SuB, and 5) exploring technology’s role to assess and promote PA and SuB. Funding: N/A.

Published

2021-09-30

How to Cite

Nigg, C., & Nigg, C. (2021). Beyond climate change and active transport: Physical activity as sustainable behaviour: Mini-Oral Presentation B2.5. The Health & Fitness Journal of Canada, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.14288/hfjc.v14i3.612

Most read articles by the same author(s)