Scientific output on physical activity and sustainable development goals: a bibliometric approach

Abstract

Problem Statement: Physical activity plays an important role in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals related to health. This relationship has triggered the interest of researchers in order to analyze the factors, benefits or barriers involved in it from different perspectives and levels. Purpose: The aim was to develop a bibliometric analysis of the scientific production on physical activity and Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on productivity, topics and collaboration. Approach: Article and review documents relating to Physical Activity and Sustainable Development Goals indexed in Scopus and the Web of Science were included. Data mining was performed in November 2023. Results: A total of 148 documents published in 100 different journals from 2015 to 2023 were retrieved. A total of 756 authors, pertaining to 357 institutions from 67 different countries participated in this output. This scientific production was approached from 13 different disciplines, Medical Sciences (45) being the most represented discipline. The most represented goals were SDG3, followed by SDG11 and SDG4. The dissemination of scientific production was carried out in 100 different journals, with Sustainability and the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health being the most important ones. The average percentage of collaboration was 90.16%, while the total mean of authors per article was 7.20. Conclusions: Although the Sustainable Development Goals came into force in 2016, research linking these goals and physical activity is an emerging field of knowledge in which collaboration between authors, institutions and countries is essential. Research on physical activity and Sustainable Development Goals should be promoted and strengthened from different disciplines to promote their achievement.