{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T12:28:07Z","timestamp":1786364887963,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":50,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1786320000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":40,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open Sport Exerc Med"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,22]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The aim of this study was to determine temporal trends in sports and exercise participation frequency among European Union adults.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We analysed Eurobarometer survey data collected among 96\u2009948 adults from 26 European Union countries in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022. Self-reported frequency of sports and exercise participation was categorised as: \u2018never\u2019, \u2018less than once a month\u2019, \u2018monthly\u2019 (1\u20133 times per month) and \u2018weekly\u2019 (at least once a week). Multilevel ordinal logistic regression was used to analyse trends in sports and exercise participation frequency for the overall sample and by gender, age, marital status, employment, place of residence, number of household members and country.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The prevalence of no participation in sports and exercise increased from 41.7% (95% confidence interval [CI] 40.6% to 42.7%) in 2009 to 45.8% (95% CI 44.8% to 46.8%) in 2022. The frequency of sports and exercise participation decreased from 2009 (reference year) to 2017 (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for 2013=0.96; 95% CI 0.92 to 0.99; OR for 2017=0.87; 95% CI 0.84 to 0.91) and then increased in 2022 (OR=0.92; 95% CI 0.89 to 0.95), suggesting a U-shaped trend (p&lt;0.001). The most concerning trends were found for females, middle-aged adults, those living alone, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The persistently high prevalence of no sports participation highlights the need to strengthen the promotion of sports and exercise in the European Union. The focus should be on the population groups and countries with declining frequency of sports and exercise participation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjsem-2025-002922","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]],"date-time":"2026-08-10T11:30:20Z","timestamp":1786361420000},"page":"e002922","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Temporal trends in sports and exercise participation: a study in a population-representative sample of 96 948 European Union adults"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3203-418X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aamir Raoof","family":"Memon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jerome N","family":"Rachele","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"},{"name":"College of Sport, Health and Engineering, Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jozo","family":"Grgic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tena","family":"Matolic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Danijel","family":"Jurakic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zeljko","family":"Pedisic","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Public Health, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026081004301361000_12.3.e002922.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s40798-024-00692-x","article-title":"Health benefits of different sports: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal and intervention studies including 2.6 million adult participants","volume":"10","author":"Oja","year":"2024","journal-title":"Sports Med Open"},{"key":"2026081004301361000_12.3.e002922.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/s13643-023-02264-8","article-title":"The impact of sports participation on mental health and social outcomes in adults: a systematic review and the \u201cMental Health through Sport\u201d conceptual model","volume":"12","author":"Eather","year":"2023","journal-title":"Syst Rev"},{"key":"2026081004301361000_12.3.e002922.3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1186\/1479-5868-10-135","article-title":"A systematic review of the psychological and social benefits of participation in sport for adults: informing development of a conceptual model of health through sport","volume":"10","author":"Eime","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act"},{"key":"2026081004301361000_12.3.e002922.4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"398","DOI":"10.1080\/1750984X.2021.2004611","article-title":"Psychosocial outcomes of sport participation for middle-aged and older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"17","author":"Sivaramakrishnan","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int Rev Sport Exerc Psychol"},{"key":"2026081004301361000_12.3.e002922.5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1177\/15579883221084493","article-title":"Sport participation and subjective outcomes of health in middle-aged men: a scoping review","volume":"16","author":"Blake","year":"2022","journal-title":"Am J Mens Health"},{"key":"2026081004301361000_12.3.e002922.6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Memon AR , Rachele JN , Grgic J , et al . 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