Under-researched populations and topics in sport and exercise medicine (SEM)

Correspondence to Dr Sharief Hendricks, Division of Physiological Sciences and Health through Physical Activity, Lifetsyle and Sport Research Centre, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape 7725, South Africa;sharief.hendricks01@gmail.com In this South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA) edition of BJSM, we spotlight work on under-researched populations and topics in sport and exercise medicine (SEM). Youth sport, TGNC athletes and mental health Access to athlete mental health care, like physical care, can be considered a resource that allows athletes to function, cope with stress, perform and achieve their goals. In 2019, the IOC established the Mental Health Working Group to develop an assessment battery for the early identification of mental health symptoms and disorders in elite athletes.3 The internal consistency of the mental health assessment battery has been tested in elite athletes, but can the same internal consistency be shown for student athletes?

The (un)level playing field: Sport media during COVID-19

Research question: : The creation of sport media content is guided by the need to cover live, seasonal events, which typically results in the greater coverage of men's sport than women's. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, live sport was halted. This paper presents the findings of a study into the media coverage of women in sport during the pandemic. Specifically, the study sought to answer the research question, how has Australian mainstream media covered women in sport during a period of time with no live sport on the global stage? Research methods: : The study used quantitative content analysis to track the coverage from 20 media outlets using consistent one-directional coding practices, involving a single individual coder at the same time each day to focus on counting articles covering women in sport. Results and findings: : The findings show a slight reduction in the coverage of women in sport at the start of the COVID-19 crisis in Australia and that low levels of coverage persisted throughout. This indicates that in the absence of live sport, media institutions reflexively revert to traditional ritualized, routinized practices to create sport media content, and women in sport stories are excluded regardless of the presence of play. Implications: : The major contribution of this study is its demonstration that the ongoing dominance of men's sport media coverage does not emerge as a result of weekly, seasonal coverage of live sport, but is founded on deeply entrenched notions of commercial value and upheld by newsroom routines and social rituals. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Narrowing the gap

[...]less than 4% of media coverage is on female athletes.5 Since 2020, less girls are participating and staying involved in sport.1 When we think of women in sports, we tend to think of the lack of representation of women and non-binary individuals in healthcare roles working with a professional sports team, a disappointing trend for professions that are traditionally female dominated. Narrowing the gap: keeping kids active and healthy Children and youth are spending less time outdoors, are more sedentary, sleep more, and spend more time on screen-based activities compared with pre-COVID-19.8 As physiotherapists, we can play a pivotal role in promoting community-based physical activity and increasing children's functional abilities to help them thrive on and off the field. ‘The TransformUs! cluster RCT 18 and 30-month effects on children's physical activity sedentary time and cardiometabolic risk markers' ( see page 311 ) study reports on the efficacy of the Transform-Us! school-based and home-based intervention on children's physical activity, sedentary behaviour and cardiometabolic risk factors.