Moving Boys – Lifestyle and Physical Activity of Young Men and Boys in Four Generations

Authors

• Mikko Salasuo Nuorisotutkimusseura
• Anni Ojajärvi

Abstract

This article tracks down changes and the place of physical activity (PA) in childhood and youth for four generations (from the 1920s to this day). The article is based on the data of 20 families and four generations of men (N=43). Modernization caused breaks to the legacy of PA. The model of strength, stamina and psychical activity of everyday life did not get passed to the next generation as it used to in agrarian society. Younger generations gave new meanings to PA that were not connected to coercion in everyday life or continuity of a family’s way of life. There was a paradigmatic change in thinking especially with men born in the 1960s and 1970s. The attitudes towards exercise and PA were connected to leisure time and got an overall playful tone. The youngest generation of the data is moving more towards an attitude where PA is just one choice among many others. At the same time PA and exercise are getting more experimental characteristics.