Sport, Health, and Well-Being

Sport is often touted by many as good for one’s health and well-being; in fact, Hippocrates is thought to have once said that “sport is the preserver of health.” And yet there is a substantial amount of scholarly research, across a range of disciplines, that problematizes this commonplace assumption. This chapter explores the central question: Is sport participation healthful for well-being? Organized in three parts, the chapter first examines key conceptual challenges associated with unpacking this question. For example, what do we mean when we refer to the concepts of sport, health, and well-being? The second section explores the challenges faced by critical social scientists in disrupting the commonplace notion of sport as good for one’s health, and the third section highlights the questions: Can contemporary sport be good for one’s health, and if so, how?