Pasi Koski

Health benefits of different sport disciplines for adults: systematic review of observational and intervention studies with meta-analysis

The aim was to assess the quality and strength of evidence for the health benefits of specific sport disciplines. Electronic search yielded 2194 records and the selection resulted in 69 eligible studies (47 cross-sectional, 9 cohort, 13 intervention studies). 105 comparisons between participation and non-participation groups in 26 different sport disciplines were reported. Moderately strong evidence showed that both running and football improve aerobic fitness and cardiovascular function at rest, and football reduces adiposity. Conditional evidence showed that running benefits metabolic fitness, adiposity and postural balance, and football improves metabolic fitness, muscular performance, postural balance, and cardiac function. Evidence for health benefits of other sport disciplines was either inconclusive or tenuous. The evidence base for the health benefits of specific sports disciplines is generally compromised by weak study design and quality. Future research should address the health effects of different sport disciplines using rigorous research designs.

Results from Finland's 2014 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth.

The Finnish 2014 Report Card on Physical Activity (PA) for Children and Youth is the first assessment of Finlands efforts in promoting and facilitating PA opportunities for children and youth using the Active Healthy Kids Canada grading system. The Report Card relies primarily on research findings from 6 Research Institutes, coordinated by the University of Jyväskylä. The Research Work Group convened to evaluate the aggregated evidence and assign grades for each of the 9 PA indicators, following the Canadian Report Card protocol. Grades from A (highest) to F (lowest) varied in Finland as follows: 1) Overall physical activity-fulfillment of recommendations (D), 2) Organized sport participation (C), 3) Active play (D), 4) Active transportation (B), 5) Sedentary behaviors (D), 6) Family and peers (C), 7) School (B), 8) Community and the built environment (B), and 9) Government (B). This comprehensive summary and assessment of indicators related to PA in Finnish children and youth indicates that Finland still has many challenges to promote a physically active life style for youth.

Finnish sports club as a mirror of society

Finnish society has undergone fundamental shifts during the last few decades, becoming a more urbanized, pluralistic, individualized and market-driven competitive society in a short period of time. During the same time, the population has aged and the social distribution of work has increased. This article analyses how Finnish sports clubs have changed since 1985 and how those changes have subsequently informed sport policy. Data for this research were collected in three tranches covering a 20-year period: the first in 1986 (n = 835), the second in 1996 (n = 495) and the third in 2006 (n = 550). Results of the data analysis show that some of the broader societal changes are clearly paralleled by changes in sports clubs, such as ageing, social differentiation, urbanization, higher levels of education and other cultural changes. Problems have concerned human resources: the number of voluntary workers and their activity and/or commitment. Along with the higher level of demand and the wider distribution of work, the need for voluntary workers has also increased. Finnish sport policy has begun to follow the idea of evidence-based management, and the government has reacted to the challenges for sports clubs by creating a pilot project in which a group of clubs are supported directly by governmental subsidies.

The change in child self-assessed and parent proxy-assessed Health Related Quality of Life (HRQL) in early adolescence (age 10—12)

Aims: To examine the development of self-assessed and parent proxy-assessed health related quality of life (HRQL) in pre-adolescent schoolchildren. Methods: The population (n = 1,346) consisted of the total cohort of children starting 4th grade (age 10) in 2004 in primary schools in a Finnish city of 175,000 inhabitants. HRQL was assessed using the Pediatric Quality of Life InventoryTM 4.0 (PedsQL TM 4.0). The baseline study was conducted in 2004 (child age 10) and follow-up in a panel setting in 2006 (child age 12). The response rate for the children was 80% (n = 1,094) in 2004 and 85% (n = 1,139) in 2006. The response rate for children having responded both in 2004 and 2006 was 73% (n = 986). For parents of the children, one parent participated in the parents’ survey (n = 999 in 2004, n = 888 in 2006). Results: HRQL scores increased significantly in the two-year follow up (child t = 10.16—5.95, p < 0.0001, parent-proxy t = 6.35—2.76, p < 0.0001—0.006). Correlation between baseline and follow-up assessments was significant (child r = 0.4—0.5, p < 0.0001, parent r = 0.47—0.57, p < 0.0001). The correlation between baseline HRQL and change was negative (child r =−0.67 to −0.56, p < 0.0001, parent r =−0.62 to −0.46, p < 0.0001). Correlation between child and parent assessments increased from baseline (r = 0.20—0.39, p < 0.0001) to follow up (r = 0.3—0.42, p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Child-assessed and parent proxy-assessed HRQL scores increase, suggesting HRQL improves, when children grow from age 10 to age 12. Baseline HRQL may not strongly predict future HRQL in early adolescence. The correlation between child self-assessment and parent proxy-assessment is fragile.

Physical Activity Relationship (PAR)

This article presents a concept and an approach for analysing and understanding an individuals relationship to physical culture. Physical activity relationship (PAR) is a concept by which sport and physical activities are approached as a cultural part of life to which all of us have a relationship. According to Unruh (1980) we live in many different social worlds at the same time and based on his classification we have different roles in these social worlds. We can be strangers, tourists, regulars or insiders. The deeper we are involved in a certain social world the better we see and understand the meanings of this world. Sport and physical activities can be conceptualized as such a social world. The relationship which describes how we encounter this world and its culture is referred to here as PAR. This article suggests that although there is clear interest in personal physical activity by the field of sport and exercise science, PAR also covers three other dimensions: following, producing and consuming the meanings of sport and physical activities. Arguably, the PAR framework may be able to offer insights for those seeking to establish sport, exercise and physical activity as fundamental aspects of a healthy lifestyle and core feature of contemporary identity formation.

Factors associated with objectively measured physical activity and sedentary time of 5–6-year-old children in the STEPS Study

ABSTRACT Background: The factors associated with preschool-aged children’s physical activity (PA) remains unclear. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine how different factors were associated with preschool-aged children’s objectively measured PA and sedentary time. Methods: The study population was 5–6-year-old children (n = 140) and their parents (n = 138) from the STEPS Study in Turku in Southwest Finland in 2013–2014. PA and sedentary time were measured objectively by accelerometers from children and parents and body mass index with Tanita scale. Other factors (siblings, day care, organized PA and parents’ education) were collected with questionnaires. Linear models were conducted. Results: Child’s PA was positively associated with mother’s PA and day care attendance. Child’s sedentary time was positively associated with mother’s sedentary time. Father’s PA and sedentary time were associated with respective variables in children, but only among fathers with high education. Conclusion: Parental role modelling is essential in developing child’s physically active and less sedentary lifestyle.

Does sports club participation contribute to physical activity among children and adolescents? A comparison across six European countries:

Aims: Insufficient physical activity (PA) is one of the largest public health challenges of our time and requires a multisectoral public-health response. PA recommendations state that all children and adolescents should accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) daily and carry out vigorous PA (VPA) three times weekly. While participation in sports club activities is known to enhance the probability of reaching the recommended overall PA level, less is known about the contribution of sports club participation to VPA, and few cross-national comparisons have been carried out. The purpose of this paper is to study whether participation in sports club activities is associated with meeting the overall PA and VPA recommendations among children and adolescents across six European countries, namely Belgium (Flanders), Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland and Sweden. Methods: Analyses were carried out on existing self-reported national data sets using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Results: Results indicate that approximately two-thirds of children and adolescents take part in sports club activities in the given countries. Sports club participants were more likely to meet the overall PA recommendations (OR 2.4–6.4) and VPA recommendation (OR 2.8–5.0) than non-participants. Conclusions: The extent to which overall PA and/or VPA is gained through sports club participation versus other settings needs to be further studied. Nonetheless, it can be argued that sports clubs have an important position in PA promotion for younger populations.

Assessing the sociology of sport: On N+1 and the cultural approach

On the 50th anniversary of the ISSA and IRSS, one of the leading Finnish scholars of the sociology of sport, Pasi Koski, uses Sorokin’s concept of “N+1” to conceptualize the challenges and needs of the field. Koski reflects on the great potential of sociology to understand the cultural structures and dynamics of power by moving beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. In considering the sociology of sport in Finland, Koski notes two interlocking roles, as provider of information for administration, and as a critical voice or “barking dog” to express caution and facilitate responsive action. It is noted that the social status and key challenge of the sociology of sport in Finland depends on how its research results are made available and impact administration of sport. A related challenge for sociologists of sport is that the identity and facade of the field remains relatively shapeless, a matter that could be remedied by shifting the agenda so that research could be used as a pathway to address larger societal questions. In the future, it is advocated that an “N+1” ideal drive multidisciplinary engagement that bridges common schisms in micro, meso, and macro level inquiry about sport and physical culture.

Finland as a small sports nation: socio-historical perspectives on the development of national sport policy

Elite sports are an important part of most nations’ culture and identity and international success in sport is highly valued. However, the increasingly important cultural, economic and political significance of sport has effectively created the equivalent of a global sporting arms race. This means challenges especially for the small nations who may have both limited populations and resources. The aim of this essay is to analyse and understand the role of elite sports in one small nation – Finland. By almost any measure Finland has been a successful sporting nation. The nation’s Olympic success was exceptionally high until the middle of the last century but success has been more difficult to achieve in recent times. This article examines the changes in Finnish sporting success and policy development in relation to the three phases of international sport: amateurism, totalisation and professionalism. During the golden and largely amateur era of Finnish sport, the main motivations for success were founded in national identity, hard work and ‘sisu’. However, following this amateur era and facing increasing competition, there was a need for new structures, policies and resources. It was clear that a small country like Finland had to redefine international sport success and hence the emergence of totalisation followed by professionalism. However, these phases are challenging for nations with small markets and for sport systems that operate democratically and are dependent on voluntary civil activity. How can and should Finland adapt its structures, strategies and policies to compete in the new global arena?

Motor skills in association with physical activity, sedentary time, body fat, and day care attendance in 5-6-year-old children-The STEPS Study

This study examined how motor skills are associated with physical activity (PA), sedentary time, body fat, and day care attendance among young children. Also, the motor skills of healthy weight children were compared to those who were overweight or obese.