- Jan Åge Kristensen is a research fellow at the Institute of Sports and Social Science.
- He will defend his thesis at NIH on March 5th titled: "The dark side of youth sports: Unhealthy health choices among young athletes".
- Read the news article about the research project: "Young athletes compete even if they are injured: - Experience pressure from the environment"
- Watch the dispute live on NIH's YouTube channel.
- Read more about the project.
Background
Abuse of painkillers, dietary supplements, doping and continued participation despite injury are all examples of unhealthy health choices that occur in youth sports. An increasing focus on performance and expectations from the environment to achieve good sporting results are possible explanations for why young athletes are willing to take chances and put their health at risk in pursuit of performance.
The aim of the doctoral project is to uncover various psychosocial risk and protective factors capable of influencing young athletes' unhealthy health choices in sports. Examples of these are the use of painkillers, dietary supplements, doping and continued participation in training and competition despite injury. The project is anchored in a social-cognitive theoretical framework in which we explored a number of protective and risk-promoting personal and contextual factors associated with unhealthy health choices.
Program
10.15-11:00: Trial lecture: Opportunities, limitations and responsibilities in promoting and protecting the health of young competitive/talented athletes
13:00-16:00: Disputation over the thesis: "The dark side of youth sports: Unhealthy health choices among young athletes"
Committee:
Professor Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (NIH), chairperson
Professor Andrea Petroczi, Kingston University London, 1st opponent
Professor Jochen Mayer, Department of Sport and Movement, Schwabisch Gmund University of Education, 2nd opponent
Supervisors
Main supervisor: Yngvar Ommundsen, professor at the Institute of Sports and Social Science
Co-supervisor: Frank Abrahamsen, associate professor at the Institute of Sports and Social Science.
Practical information
The dispute is open to the public and will also be streamed on YouTube.