Motives for leisure‑time physical activity participation: an analysis of their prevalence, consistency and associations with activity type and social background

What is the study about?
The article uses data from a 2020 survey of 163,000 adult Danes, who reported which physical activities they engage in and their motives for doing so. The article examines the most common motives for physical activity and how these vary according to differences in activity type and social background (gender, age, and education).

• Some motives (e.g., health and enjoyment) are common across all activities.
• But people’s mix of motives varies depending on the activity they do (e.g., health is a much more important motive when people do fitness than when they do outdoor activities).
• The mix of motives also varies—though to a lesser extent—according to people’s social background (gender, age, and education).
• Thus, interventions to promote physical activity cannot be based solely on people’s motives, as these vary depending on the activity they engage in