Mental health driving Australians to, and from, exercise

A record number of Australians may be cutting exercise off their list of life priorities, but many more appear to be seeing its wider benefits, according to AusPlay’s annual survey of 20,000 people into the country’s exercise habits.

Nearly one in three Australian adults are now motivated to exercise to maintain their mental well-being.

At 31 percent, that figure has nearly doubled in five years, enjoying steady growth during the period of the pandemic and accompanying restrictions.

However, while the survey also showed that children are returning to weekly exercise outside of school (47 per cent compared with 42 the previous year), it also showed that staying active is no longer as important to some Australians.

The proportion of Australians who were not active, and who reported that exercise was no longer a priority, increased substantially, from 7% in 2020-21 to 11% in 2021-22.

That is now the highest level recorded since AusPlay began collecting data in October 2015.

The proportion is even higher for Australians aged 18 and over who speak a language other than English at home, at 13 per cent.

Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells said the survey was helpful in understanding how the government and individual sports approach managing the sector.

“Australians see the benefits of being active for their physical and mental health and we need to continue to address the barriers that prevent them from being active,” said Ms Wells.

University of Victoria sports participation professor Rochelle Eime said keeping Australians involved in exercise helps people both individually and society at large.

“If you have very poor health and many chronic diseases and [are] severely obese, it is very difficult to be active, especially through sports activities,” said Professor Eime.

“That’s the problem. We’re having rising obesity rates and rising chronic disease, which costs the health case and the burden is huge.”

Individual activities on the rise

The most popular activities for boys are swimming, football (including soccer and Australian rules), while swimming, dancing and gymnastics are the most popular for girls.

Among men, bushwalking remains popular, ranking as the third most popular non-sport activity after walking and going to the gym or personal exercise.

Yoga overtook bushwalking as the third most popular non-sport activity among women, again after walking and exercise.

Sports Commission executive director Kieren Perkins said the results highlighted the trend toward individual and flexible activities.

“We are seeing more Australians getting involved in activities such as walking, yoga, pilates and exergaming, which can be enjoyed at times and places that suit them,” he said.

“We know that many people are juggling multiple commitments and it is important that our sports continue to explore how best to engage with Australians looking for flexibility to fit their lifestyles.”

Professor Eime said the reasons people do different exercise activities may differ.

“People don’t go [to] play tennis on a saturday afternoon for mental health [reasons]. It can help to contribute a lot of things, but usually it’s to go have fun and play with some friends.

“The flip side of COVID is that we all turned to individual activities because we couldn’t do team and club sports, but you actually get better health and psychological benefits because of that social and team nature, and when you’re active with others, it’s more likely to continue to be active.”

According to the survey, 43 per cent of inactive older Australians, aged 55 and over, say poor health or injury is a barrier to staying active.

The survey also highlighted an urban-regional divide, with 83 per cent of Australians aged 15 and over in major cities taking part in sport or physical activity at least once a week compared to just 76 per cent in regional areas. and rural.