Is watching "sports events" as healthy as exercising? Research: Actual admission support can obtain at least "4 major benefits"
Exercise can not only promote health through “doing”, but can also benefit from just “seeing”? Research published in “Sport Management Review” shows that the brain structure of people who frequently watch sports events is slightly different from that of people who rarely watch sports events: their subjective well-being not only improves, but also shows a tendency to be more active in specific areas of the brain.
Is watching “sports events” as healthy as exercising? Japanese research reveals: related to increased gray matter area in the brain
The research was led by Waseda University in Japan. In order to understand the impact of watching sports events on the brain, the team conducted three studies: First, the research team collected 20,000 Japanese people who had watched sports events before. After analyzing the data, they showed that the behavior of watching games is indeed related to an increase in subjective well-being; However, the evidence is limited and it is difficult to conclude the correlation.
Therefore, in the second study, the research team recruited 208 volunteers online and asked them to watch various types of sports events to assess their mental health before and after watching. Research results show that compared with less popular sports such as golf, watching widely accepted sports such as baseball and football has a more significant impact on improving happiness.
In the last study, the team used neuroimaging technologies such as magnetic resonance scanning (MRI) to detect changes in brain activity in 14 subjects after watching sports events. The analysis showed that watching sports events stimulates reward circuits in the brain and further leads to feelings of happiness or joy. In addition, image analysis showed that those who frequently watch games show larger gray matter volumes in areas related to reward circuits; this indicates that frequent watching of games may indeed be related to changes in brain structure.
Study author Shintaro Sato believes that the results of this study show that watching sports events has the potential to have a positive and positive effect on the public’s psychological and neurophysiological health; it is not limited to subjective feelings, but actually affects brain activity. “Watching sports events has a positive impact on the public’s psychological and neurophysiological health.” It is not only an entertainment activity, but may also make a practical contribution to improving public happiness!"
Can watching games help increase “life satisfaction”? Actual admission support can get at least “4 major benefits”
In fact, past research supports the importance of athletic events in promoting mental health. A study published in “Frontiers in Public Health” by Anglia Ruskin University in the UK in 2023, involving 7,249 people aged 16-85, showed that participation in live sports events is indeed associated with increased life satisfaction and sense of value, and reduced loneliness There is a significant correlation.
The study pointed out that based on the subjects’ “subjective physical and mental health” indicators, even if variables such as gender, poverty level, age, health status or employment status are taken into account, those who participate in more sports events are indeed related to increased life satisfaction. , especially women, the elderly, the financially well-off and those with better health, not only benefit more from the competition, but also report a higher level of subjective well-being.
In addition, the study also found that actual participation in large-scale sports events can significantly predict the subject’s “sense of value” in life, and its impact even exceeds gender, poverty level, age, health status and employment status. That is, participating in the event can significantly enhance the meaning of people’s lives. Finally, the research team analyzed the association between sports events and loneliness and found that watching games was related to promoting social interaction and reducing feelings of loneliness.
However, although participating in large-scale sports activities has a positive impact on reducing loneliness, and men, older people, those with better health conditions, and those with financial well-off are more likely to benefit, other factors such as employment status and health status have a more significant impact. . The study emphasized that the events examined in the trial only ranged from amateur football leagues to elite football leagues, so the impact of other sports on mental health needs further confirmation.
Study author Helen Keyes believes that even small improvements in subjective well-being may have important effects on subjects’ health outcomes, such as mortality. Participation in sporting events therefore has potential as an effective tool to increase public well-being and reduce loneliness. Future research should further explore the causal relationship between sports events and physical and mental health, as well as strategies to target specific groups, such as the unemployed.
Source:
Watching sport enhances well-being: evidence from a multi-method approach
Attending live sporting events predicts subjective wellbeing and reduces loneliness
Extended reading:
Is night exercise more beneficial than morning or afternoon exercise? Study: It is possible to reduce the risk of death in “two groups”
