Scientists said sports could become a helpful health tool in an age of isolation.
There is a saying that playing sports is good for the body. But now, a new research has claimed that merely watching sports live may be good for the mind. The Washington Post carried an article on the study that linked viewing live sporting events with higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of loneliness. The study was conducted by Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, England, in which the scientists said that live sporting events could be used to improve public health.
The full study has been published in Frontiers in Public Health.
The Post said that scientists studied 7,209 people in the age group 16-85 in England. They asked the participants questions about their lives and well-being, and whether they attended sporting events.
The results showed that people who attended a live sporting event in the past year were more likely to report that their lives are worthwhile than demographic factors like age and employment, the Post article further said.
"The live events covered by the survey ranged from free amateur events, such as watching village sports teams, right through to Premier League football matches," Sports illustrated quoted Dr Helen Keyes - the study's lead author - as saying. "We do know that watching live sport of all types provides many opportunities for social interaction and this helps to forge group identity and belonging, which in turn mitigates loneliness and boosts levels of wellbeing."
The researchers, however, concluded that further research is important but expressed a belief that sports could become a helpful health tool in an age of isolation.
"Our findings could be useful for shaping future public health strategies, such as offering reduced ticket prices for certain groups," said Dr Keyes.