Conference Agenda

Background and aim of the study: Nature-based training (NBT) may help address challenges in adolescents’ sports club participation, including reduced connection to nature, mental health concerns, overuse injuries, and restricted access to facilities. However, research on opportunities and challenges of NBT in sports clubs is scarce.

This study examines NBT through the following research questions: What is the prevalence of NBT in sports clubs? Can the amount of NBT be increased? What opportunities and challenges are associated with NBT? The topic is rarely studied, and this study provides knowledge for promoting NBT in sports clubs.

Methods: Finnish sports club officials and coaches (n = 103) completed an e-questionnaire during a national seminar in 2025, producing cross-sectional data. Measures included “Is NBT carried out in your club” (yes/no); “Could the amount of NBT be increased” (yes/no); and open-ended responses on “Opportunities and challenges of NBT”. Descriptive statistics and inductive content analysis were conducted.

Results: Among participants, 46% reported that NBT did not occur in their club, and 86% stated that NBT could be increased. Reported opportunities included wellbeing benefits, favourable conditions (e.g., proximity to nature, training capacity), older age groups, and training diversity. Challenges related to conditions (distance, weather and seasonal variation, safety), younger children, discipline-specific training requirements, limited resources, and established habits and attitudes.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates potential for increasing NBT in sports clubs and identifies key benefits and challenges to consider when supporting its implementation. Future research should explore adolescents’ perspective on NBT.

Funding source: No external funding.

Background and Aim: Low physical activity (PA) among adolescent girls is a well-documented global public health concern. PA programmes designed to increase their activity levels can be effective, however, the impact of these programmes depends on successfully recruiting girls into them. This study aimed to develop consensus-derived recommendations for recruiting adolescent girls into PA programmes.

Methods: Underpinned by a prior systematic review of recruitment strategies, a three-round modified Delphi study (May-June 2024) was conducted with two independent panels of PA providers (n=23) and adolescent girls (n=20) to establish consensus on recommended strategies for recruiting adolescent girls into PA programmes.

Results: Consensus indicated that encouragement, timely reminders, and practical logistic support, especially from teachers, were central to recruitment. Agreement emerged on the value of supportive friends and instructors, clear, transparent communication about programme atmosphere and activities, opportunities to try activities prior to enrolment through low-pressure “taster” sessions, and programme environments that prioritise fun and minimise competitiveness. Disagreement emerged regarding the value of fitness testing and traditional gyms as the setting for PA participation. The study produced a consolidated set of consensus-based recruitment strategies agreed by both panels.

Conclusion: These findings provide practical, stakeholder-informed guidance for improving recruitment into PA programmes for adolescent girls. Providers might use these recommendations as a working framework for enhancing recruitment practices, while policymakers may find them useful when considering how workforce training and resource allocation can better support girls' PA participation. Further empirical research should evaluate the effectiveness of these consensus-based strategies in real-world programme settings.

Purpose: Sports clubs are important community settings for health promotion. The Health Promoting Sports Club (HPSC) model provides a comprehensive framework for embedding health promotion across system levels and health determinants, however, evidence on how specific Behaviour Change Techniques (BCTs) are applied within this framework remains limited. This study aimed to examine the use of BCTs in sport-based health interventions and their alignment with the HPSC model.

Methods: A two-step study design was applied. First, a literature review examined the extent to which BCTs are explicitly reported in sport setting. Second, twenty trials from Hodder et al. (2025) were retrospectively coded using the BCT Taxonomy v1. Coding was conducted independently by two researchers, with inter-rater reliability assessed using Cohen’s kappa.

Results: Only two sport-based interventions explicitly reported BCT use, indicating a substantial evidence gap. Across the 20 trials, 13 BCTs groups and 39 subgroups were identified, reflecting limited use of the 93 techniques included in the BCT Taxonomy v1. Most BCTs belonged to the groups: Feedback and monitoring, Shaping knowledge, Repetition and substitution, Social support, and Goals and planning. Inter-rater reliability ranged from fair to almost perfect (κ = 0.22–0.88).

Conclusions: Sports clubs-based health interventions apply a narrow range of BCTs, often implicitly and with limited theoretical transparency. More explicit, systematic application and reporting of BCTs is needed to strengthen health promotion practice in sports clubs.

Support/Funding Source: research is funded between Santé publique France, the Ministry of Sport, Youth and Community, University Côte d'Azur and the University of Lorraine.

Background:

There is an increasing amount of evidence that playing golf is beneficial for health, particularly for older people. The benefits are thought to result from a combination of the physical activity involved in golf, the social interaction when playing, the benefits of being outdoors, as well as the cognitive challenges involved in playing golf shots. This aim of this project was to co-produce a golf and health programme for older people.

Methods

The project was developed with stakeholders, including golf professionals, healthcare professionals, social prescribers, and older community members from many different cultures. The pilot project focuses on people living with frailty and stroke survivors. The frailty, component is included as part of an offer of 12 weeks of free physical activity for older people who are mildly frail, with recruitment through primary care and the community. The stroke survivor component is a partnership with physiotherapists, with participants progressing from clinic to the golf course. For both conditions, participants start with putting then progress to the full swing, based on individual capacities. The programme is currently being evaluated using a mixed methods approach. Scaling up is planned with additional golf courses and physiotherapy clinics. The programme could also be extended to include other sports and activities, as well as people with other age-related conditions.

Conclusions:

Partnership between health care providers and sports clubs, such as golf, could provide a way of improving public health and creating health hubs in traditional leisure settings.

Purpose

Men are less likely to participate in health promotion than women and professional football clubs (PFCs) have shown effectives for engaging men in physical activity (PA). AGF Walks is a weekly walking initiative developed with a PFC and municipality through a participatory systems approach. This study examined reach, experiences, and individual outcomes.

Methods

A prospective observational study was conducted from May 2025 to February 2026. Reach was assessed using attendance data from 27 walks. Health outcomes were measured using questionnaires at baseline and seven-month follow-up, including self-rated health, PA, social connectedness and health awareness. Post-focus groups and interviews (n=11 men) were conducted.

Results

170 men registered for the program, with median participation of 2.5 walks (range 0–24). Sessions attracted median 28 participants (range 6–61). Among 100 respondents, median age was 59 years (IQR: 53–65). Participants had diverse social backgrounds: 51% had primary/secondary education, 15% were outside labor market, 20% retired, and 15% lived alone.

At baseline, 75% did not meet PA recommendations. At follow-up, 22% formed social connections, 72% formed acquaintances, and 39% increased PA awareness. Qualitative findings showed men were attracted by football discussions and the walking format, while social relations supported participation. No statistically significant differences were found in health outcomes.

Conclusions

PFCs may provide accessible settings for engaging men in PA, including inactive men from varied backgrounds. Like other PA initiatives in this setting. The walking initiative appears to function as a social draw that make health-promoting activities socially acceptable for men.

Purpose
Although dance training has been linked to improved psychological well-being, the mechanisms underlying its association with life satisfaction remain unclear. This study tested whether body-esteem facets, and subsequently global self-esteem, mediate the association between dance training and life satisfaction.

Methods
A total of 234 women, including 72 engaged in supervised dance training, completed an anonymous online survey. Self-perceived sexual attractiveness, physical condition, and weight concern were assessed with the Body-Esteem Scale. Participants also completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale. Direct and indirect effects of dance training on life satisfaction were tested using serial mediation, with body-esteem facets entered as first-stage mediators and global self-esteem as a second-stage mediator.

Results
The direct effect of dance training on life satisfaction was not significant. Significant indirect pathways linking dance training with life satisfaction ran through body-esteem facets and global self-esteem, but not through weight concerns. Specifically, significant indirect pathways ran through perceived sexual attractiveness alone, through perceived sexual attractiveness followed by global self-esteem, and through perceived physical condition followed by global self-esteem.

Conclusions
Body-esteem facets and global self-esteem appear to serially mediate the association between dance training and life satisfaction. Perceived sexual attractiveness and physical condition are key body-related pathways linking dance training with greater life satisfaction. These findings suggest that dance may be a particularly beneficial form of activity because it engages a multilevel self-system in which body-specific evaluations, especially perceived attractiveness and physical condition, may translate into broader self-worth and, in turn, greater psychological well-being.

This study examined the effects of the Ball-based Play in Preschool intervention on children’s participation in ball-based sports, joy of movement, skill level, and frequency of ball-based play. Secondary analyses of baseline data explored the distribution of these outcomes and their associations with background characteristics. The intervention integrated ball-based play into daily preschool routines and aimed to strengthen collaboration between preschools and local sports clubs to foster ball-based sports participation.

A non-randomized wait-list control design involved children from eight preschools. Parents completed a questionnaire assessing child-level outcomes and background factors. One of the assessed outcomes was the newly developed Ball Play Index, capturing three key elements of ball play: participation, enjoyment, and skill level. Baseline analyses included 429 children, while impact analyses included 108 children.

Baseline data revealed variation across the participating preschool settings. For instance, participation in ball-based sports ranged from 14% to 30%, while participation in any sport varied from 31% to 80%. Cross-sectional analyses showed associations between sports participation, Ball Play Index, and characteristics such as disability status, parental background, and gender. Impact analyses found no significant intervention effects on Ball Play Index or participation in ball-based sports.

Future initiatives should consider both the readiness of sports clubs and the current activity levels of the target group. Adopting a broader strategy that incorporates a wider range of sports could help address capacity constraints, and ensuring equal access for all children remains essential. In addition, more actively engaging parents may strengthen the process and impact of future efforts.

Purpose

Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is associated with physical activity (PA), but the associations with musculoskeletal fitness (MF) have been studied rarely. This study analyzed how MF is associated with accelerometer-measured physical behavior among working-aged adults.

Methods

The study is based on two cross-sectional population-based studies that measured 1) physical behavior by a triaxial hip-worn accelerometer (UKK RM42) and 2) fitness by modified push-up, jump-and-reach and 6 -min walk tests among 20-69-year-old adults (n=3250, age 50.3 ±13.0 years, 59% women). Waking-time stationary behavior (lying, reclining, sitting, and standing) was analyzed by the APE-algorithm and PA by the MAD-algorithm. Both absolute and relative intensities of PA were assessed: light (LPA), moderate (MPA) and vigorous (VPA). Absolute intensities were defined by metabolic equivalents and relative intensities by individual CRF (VO2R) estimated by the 6-min walk test. Modified push-up and jump-and-reach results were analyzed in age-group and sex-specific tertiles. Data was analyzed by General linear model.

Results
Participants with the best push-up performance accumulated statistically significantly (p<0.001) less reclining and more standing time, more LPA and MPA in both absolute and relative terms, and more daily steps than those with the poorest performance. Correspondingly, participants in the best jump-and-reach tertile accumulated less reclining and more standing, more absolute PA regardless of intensity, more relative LPA and more daily steps than those in the poorest tertile.

Conclusions
Better MF is associated with less reclining, and more standing and PA. Individual level in both CRF and MF should be considered when promoting PA among adult populations.

Introduction

Community-based physical activity referral schemes can support people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), yet uptake and attendance remain variable. While individual-level factors are often emphasised, less is known about how implementation contexts shape these behaviours. This qualitative study explored factors influencing uptake and attendance within ULMedEx , a 12-week community-based exercise programme for adults living with NCDs.

Methods

Thirty-four participants (cardiovascular disease (n=14); type 2 diabetes (n=9); respiratory conditions (n=11)) took part in 10 small group interviews and eight individual interviews (mean=59 minutes). Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, with inductive theme development followed by deductive mapping to COM-B within the Behaviour Change Wheel.

Results

Eight themes described factors shaping uptake and attendance. Uptake was influenced by (1)quality and consistency of information at diagnosis or referral, (2)referral as endorsement, where trusted healthcare professionals legitimised participation as safe and appropriate and (3)system continuity, with timely follow-up contact, coordinated transitions from hospital rehabilitation, and proactive outreach. Attendance was supported by (4)structured delivery, including fixed session times, predictable class routines and assessment feedback, (5)a sense of belonging within a supportive environment, (6)material, economic and logistical feasibility, (7)instructor-led safety and trust through supervision and tailored guidance, and (8)participants own readiness to engage, shaped by recovery-related vulnerability and perceived choice.

Conclusion

Opportunity-related influences were central to uptake and attendance, with motivation typically reinforced after engaging with the programme rather than preceding it. Implementation strategies embedding safety, legitimacy, routine and social support may be more effective than approaches focused primarily on individual behaviour change.