FITeens Toolkit

14 students with rational and logical explanations of the importance of physical activity, facilitating the development of the identified regulation. People tend to repeat what gives pleasure and fun, for that reason exercise professionals or teachers should put effort into planning activities with this in mind. In short, Physical Activity could play a key role in the fight against high rates of inactivity and sedentary lifestyles especially among children and adolescents. The results obtained from several studies (Cid et al., 2019) emphasise the importance of three variables: autonomous motivational climate, satisfaction of basic psychological needs (especially competence), as well as self-determined motivation. As such, teachers should plan and develop their professional activity with the notion that an autonomous motivational climate can influence effort, persistence, cognition, emotions and behaviour of the students (Rodrigues et al., 2018), and they should be aware of promoting self-determined motivation, as a way to enhance individuals’ intentions to be or to continue to be physically active (Monteiro et al., 2018). This explanation of the physical activity motivational process is an example that can be applied to any other health-related behavior. If you want to know more about motivation for the acquisition of healthy habits and the practice of physical activity, visit the following links: 1. New Eurobarometer on sport and physical activity (European Commission) 2. Center for Self-Determination Theory 3. 5 Tips to Help You Stay Motivated to Exercise (National Institute of Aging) 4. How to Stay Motivated and Lead a Healthy Lifestyle (HealthHub)