Increasing Adult Participation in Sports

Adult participation in sports has numerous benefits. They include improvement of
physical and mental health. Adults who participate in sports and other physical activities are
at a reduced risk of developing lifestyle diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and
diabetes. Additionally, participation in sports and physical activities also improve one’s
physical shape thus increasing self-esteem.

Despite the clear benefits of adult participation in sports and other physical activities,
American adults record significantly lower participation in sports and physical activities than
children and youths. While around three quarters of Americans report participating in sports
as youths, just around 25% of adults report participating in sports (Datz & Blair, 2015). The
participation in sports among American adults is significantly lower than many countries,
including highly developed countries where adult participation in sports and other physical
activities tends to be lower. In particular, participation of American adults in sports and
physical activities is much lower compared to participation rates in Japan. A survey
conducted in 2020 found that around 60% of Japanese adults aged between 20 and 79 years
participated in some sporting activity at least once a week (Arba, 2021). 30% of the adults
took part in sporting activities at least three times a week (Arba, 2021). 35% participated in
sports at least twice a week with the duration of the sporting activity lasting for more than 20
minutes (Sasakawa Sports Foundation, 2017).

Given the percentage of adults who participate in sports and other physical activities,
it is clear that Japan has one of the highest rates of adult participation in the world. Moreover,
unlike in other countries where adult participation in sports has been declining, the rates of
adult participation in sports in Japan have been increasing. For instance, the number of adults
who do not participate in any sport for a year has been on the decline over the past two

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decades. Given the health and social benefits of participation in sports among adults, Japan’s
success in getting its adults to participate in sporting activities should be emulated by other
countries, including the U.S. where adult participation in sports is relatively.

The high rates of adult participation in sports in Japan can be attributed to government
policy of aggressively promoting sports participation in adults. At 84.2 years, Japan has one
of the highest life expectancy rates in the world (Arba, 2021). As older adults tend to need
more healthcare, the Japanese government realized that encouraging adults to participate in
sports would significantly decrease healthcare costs as sports participation and other forms of
physical activities have been found to decrease the risk of developing medical conditions,
such as hypertension and other cardiovascular ailments that increase healthcare costs.

In addition to raising awareness about the importance of participation in sports and
other forms of physical activities, the Japanese government has enacted policies that support
adult participation in sports. For instance, the Second Sport Basic Plan of 2017 requires that
the national government, local government, sporting organizations, and private business
coordinate and cooperate in creating opportunities for adults to participate in sports
(Sasakawa Sports Foundation, 2017).

The example of Japan provides valuable lessons for the U.S. In addition to raising
awareness about the importance of adult participation in sporting and physical activities, it is
important for the federal government to facilitate coordination and cooperation of federal,
state, and local government agencies as well as sporting organizations and businesses in
providing opportunities for adult participation in sporting and physical activities.

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References

Arba, A. (2021, June 28). Weekly participation in sports among adults FY 2016-2020, by
frequency. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1166199/japan-weekly-
participation-sports-adults-by-frequency/

Datz, T. and Blair, M. (2015, June 15). Poll: Three in four adults played sports when they
were younger, but only one in four still play. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health. https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/poll-many-adults-played-
sports-when-young-but-few-still-play/

Sasakawa Sports Foundation (2017). White Paper on Sport in Japan.
https://www.ssf.or.jp/Portals/0/resources/outline/en/pdf/SportWhitePaperinJapan2017_c.pdf