[Health promotion by sports and physical activity: politics, behavior and infrastructures in a European comparison]

The focus of physical activity promotion is moving from measures to increase health-enhancing physical activity on the individual level to higher-level strategies including policy and environmental approaches. Scientific evidence, traditionally related to individual-based strategies, calls for adaptation and refinement when environmental and policy changes become more relevant.

This paper investigates differences in physical activity promotion and public policy among six European countries. Data from a European study on public health promotion policy and health behaviours (MAREPS) is analysed to study behaviour, community-based opportunities for physical activity, and populations' perception of the effectiveness of their national policies in promoting physical activity.

Analyses show significant differences in both involvement in and perceived opportunities for physical activity among the investigated countries. Populations in Finland, Switzerland, and The Netherlands show comparably higher participation and, at the same time, perceive better opportunities for physical activity within the residential environment than people in East Germany, Belgium, and Spain. Moreover, respondents from the former group of nations report considerably greater contribution of health policy in their country to the promotion of physical activity than respondents from the latter group.

In conclusion, the results provide empirical support for the significance of environmental and policy approaches with regard to physical activity. Opportunities created by implementing such approaches may enable populations to develop more active lifestyles conducive to health. Further research employing longitudinal designs could be especially helpful to explore the causalities of the relationship between policy, environment and physical activity.