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Scientific Production on Physical Activity, Physical Education, Global Warming and Climate Change: A Bibliometric Analysis

Author

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  • Antonio Castillo-Paredes

    (Grupo AFySE, Investigación en Actividad Física y Salud Escolar, Escuela de Pedagogía en Educación Física, Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Las Américas, Santiago 8370040, Chile)

  • Angel Denche-Zamorano

    (Promoting a Healthy Society Research Group (PHeSO), Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain)

  • Mario Fuentes-Rubio

    (Departamento de Educación Física, Deportes y Recreación, Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación, Santiago 7780450, Chile)

  • Matias Portela-Estinto

    (Departamento de Promoción de la Salud y Participación Ciudadana, Ministerio de Salud, Santiago 8320076, Chile)

  • José Carmelo Adsuar

    (Promoting a Healthy Society Research Group (PHeSO), Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Extremadura, 10003 Cáceres, Spain
    CIPER, Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon, 1649-004 Lisbon, Portugal)

  • Diana Salas-Gómez

    (Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano, Universidade de Évora, 7004-516 Évora, Portugal)

Abstract

Physical activity allows people to obtain multidimensional benefits. Regular practice and following the recommendations can provide the benefits mentioned above. However, it has been evidenced that the variability in the environmental temperature is a determining factor to adhere to the regular practice of physical activity. From this point of view, it has become evident that researchers have joined criteria to explore the effects of climate change or global warming on physical activity or physical education. This study is the first bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature related to physical activity, physical education, global warming, and climate change. The objective of the present bibliometric review was to examine annual publication trends, identifying the categories, journals, and countries with the highest number of publications on this topic. In addition, the secondary objective was to identify the most productive and prominent authors, highlight the most cited articles, and determine the keywords most used by the authors. We analyzed 261 papers published in journals indexed in the Web of Science, examining the trend followed by annual publications, identifying prolific and prominent co-authors, leading countries and journals, most cited papers, and most used author keywords. The annual publications followed an exponential growth trend (R 2 = 90%), which means that there is great interest in the scientific community for this object of study. The Journal of Physical Activity & Health was the journal with the most published papers. M.S. Tremblay and E.Y. Lee were the most prominent co-authors, and as reference authors on the subject, M. Nieuwenhuijsen and H. Khreis were the most prominent authors. The three countries with the highest productivity are the USA, the UK, and Canada. Although a total of 29 keywords were identified, only 25 of them were commonly recurrent, with the most used being climate change and physical activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Castillo-Paredes & Angel Denche-Zamorano & Mario Fuentes-Rubio & Matias Portela-Estinto & José Carmelo Adsuar & Diana Salas-Gómez, 2025. "Scientific Production on Physical Activity, Physical Education, Global Warming and Climate Change: A Bibliometric Analysis," Societies, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-20, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:15:y:2025:i:6:p:161-:d:1676167
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rachele Pojednic & Emma D'Arpino & Ian Halliday & Amy Bantham, 2022. "The Benefits of Physical Activity for People with Obesity, Independent of Weight Loss: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-14, April.
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