Out on the pitch : sport and mental health in LGBT people

Callwood, Daniel and Smith, Matthew (2019) Out on the pitch : sport and mental health in LGBT people. Lancet, 394 (10210). pp. 1704-1705. ISSN 0140-6736 (https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32646-7)

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Abstract

It has become commonplace to associate participation in sport and exercise with positive health, with the NHS even branding sport as a ‘miracle cure’. Such recommendations lean on empirical evidence that emphasises the benefits of physical activity on overall health –both physical and mental. These guidelines are well-meaning, but they rely on a view of sport that is shorn of cultural context, and does not account for how experiences of sport and exercise vary enormously for different groups within society.