Promoting Healthy Lifestyles Through Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents: Impacts, Benefits, and Future Perspectives

Promoting healthy lifestyle habits from an early age is essential for fostering long-term physical, mental, and social well-being. Physical activity plays a central role in the development of these habits, contributing not only to physical health, but also to improved cognitive function, emotional regulation, and social skills in children and adolescents.

However, current global trends show increasing levels of sedentary behavior and physical inactivity among youth, raising concerns about their present and future health. Schools, families, and communities are key settings for encouraging active lifestyles and shaping sustainable habits.

This Special Issue aims to gather scientific evidence on the benefits of physical activity, explore effective strategies for promoting it across diverse contexts, and examine methods for assessing and quantifying physical activity levels in young populations. Contributions from educational, clinical, and community-based perspectives are welcome.

Despite the well-documented benefits of physical activity for children and adolescents, recent studies indicate a worrying decline in physical activity levels and a rise in sedentary behaviors among youth worldwide. These trends are associated with negative consequences for physical health, mental well-being, academic performance, and long-term lifestyle habits.

Addressing this issue requires a comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence physical activity participation, as well as the development of evidence-based strategies tailored to different age groups and social contexts. The goal of this Research Topic is to explore how physical activity can be effectively promoted to support healthy lifestyle habits in children and adolescents. We invite original research, systematic reviews, and theoretical contributions that examine the benefits of physical activity, effective interventions, environmental and social determinants, and innovative methods for assessing physical activity in youth.

By advancing scientific knowledge in this area, we aim to inform policies, programs, and practices that foster lifelong well-being.

This Research Topic welcomes contributions that explore the relationship between physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits in children and adolescents. We are particularly interested in studies addressing the benefits of physical activity for physical, mental, and social health; interventions to promote active lifestyles in school, family, and community settings; and the use of objective and subjective methods to assess physical activity levels. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

- Physical education and school-based programs
- Sport participation and organized activities
- Sedentary behavior and screen time
- Sleep quality
- Environmental and psychosocial factors
- Measurement and quantification of physical activity

We encourage the submission of original research articles, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case studies, and theoretical or conceptual papers. Interdisciplinary approaches and studies with practical implications for education, health promotion, and policy development are especially welcome.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Health Promotion, Activity Monitoring, Healthy Lifestyle, Physical Activity Assessment, Accelerometry

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.