ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1662362
This article is part of the Research TopicSports, Nutrition and Public Health: Analyzing their Interconnected ImpactsView all 33 articles
Supply–Demand Matching of Public Sports Services for Rural Older Adults in China: Current Situation and Related Factors
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China
- 2Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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China's rural aging population faces significant health challenges. To understand the supply-demand matching of public sports services for rural older adults, this study surveyed adults aged 50+ (demand side) and village cadres (supply side) across eastern, central, and western China. Using questionnaire surveys and canonical correlation analysis, we found that the overall supply-demand matching is low, with significant deficiencies in sports funding, facilities, and activity organization. Matching levels were higher in eastern and economically developed villages. Older adults' demand is significantly related to their educational background, economic status, and health conditions. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that while service matching can enhance physical activity awareness, it currently fails to meet the needs related to health status and lifestyle, with notable gaps in satisfaction and participation levels. We propose optimizing services through improved strategic planning, multi-entity collaboration, demand-oriented content, and integrated online-offline platforms to promote healthy aging in rural China.
Keywords: rural older adults 1, public sports services 2, supply and demand matching 3, serviceaccessibility 4, Chinese practice 5
Received: 09 Jul 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, 何, Lu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhihua Wang, wzh1993@scu.edu.cn
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