Uni-Tübingen

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05.10.2022

Report on the Annual Conference of the dvs commission for health in Tübingen

For the first time since 2019, the annual conference of the Exercise and Health commission in the German Society of Sport Science took place in person. From the 14th to the 16th of September 2022, about 130 participants – mainly scientists – gathered at the Institute for Sports Science at the University of Tübingen.

The conference was hosted by the new Interfaculty Research Institute for Sport and Physical Activity at the University of Tübingen, whose core institutions are the Institute for Sports Science as well as the Department of Sports Medicine at the University Hospital Tübingen. Whether work groups and workshops next to gymnastics hall, creative seating arrangements with sports equipment, or talks with impressive presentation technology in the spacious gymnasium; a special atmosphere was ever-present, one which provided the perfect framework for the presentations and discussions of the sports science research.

Conference highlights were provided by the four main presentations on the conference topic “Poly-Pill Physical Activity – Opportunities, Risks, and Side Effects”, all of which provided for a flowing continuity for the event. Based on current international data on PA deficiency, Dr. Regina Guthold (WHO) reported on the activities of the World Health Organization on global PA promotion and gave an outlook on the current WHO Global Status Report on Physical Activity. Taking current PA recommendations into account, Prof. Panteleimon Ekkekakis (Michigan State University) broached the issue of existing challenges in disciplinary integration, complex, primarily dose-oriented recommendations, and on overcoming public health messaging based on rational conviction. Prof. Dominic Malcolm (Loughborough University) took on a critical-sociological perspective on health-oriented PA and sport promotion and illuminated the limits and pitfalls of neoliberalism and medicalization as regards PA and sport. Prof. Annika Frahsa (University of Bern) further elaborated on this perspective with an intervention-oriented focus, classifying the advantages and limits of participatory research and co-creation in PA promotion.

The scientific program, with over 80 contributions in work groups and a poster session as well as in the pre-conference workshop with Prof. Ekkekakis met with great interest in sports sciences health research. Great pleasure that in-person exchange was finally a possibility again was observable in the stirring discussions between colleagues – both scientific and personal. The framework program, including a visit to the Umbrian- Provençal Market in the old city, a congress-evening, as well as a rich sport and exercise program provided further possibilities for encounters amongst colleagues. On this basis, the organizational team led by Prof. Dr. Gorden Sudeck was happy to receive very positive feedback on the scientific and social program as well as on the conference organization.

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