Leisure and Health: A Life-Span Perspective on Well-Being

Foundations of Well-Being and the Life-Span Perspective

Well-being is a dynamic and positive process that encompasses more than just the absence of illness. According to the New Economics Foundation ($2012$), well-being ensures that individuals possess a sense of individual vitality, are able to undertake activities that are meaningful, engaging, and which make them feel competent and autonomous, and have a stock of resources to help them be resilient to changes and circumstances not under their immediate control. People with high levels of well-being contribute more positively to the quality of community life and make the world a better place for others ($Gill \, \& \, Bedini, \, 2010$). Conversely, low levels of well-being are harmful and costly for both individuals and their surroundings. Well-being can be considered an umbrella term that includes overlapping constructs such as wellness, health, quality of life, comfort, welfare, safety, good fortune, and happiness.

To understand the role of leisure in well-being, we must look through a life-span perspective. The life span refers to the uninterrupted sequence of changes and continuities in life from birth to death ($Russell, \, 2018$). Under this framework, leisure is essential for growing, maturing, and maintaining health. It creates a balance between continuity and change. Our lives are experienced as both continuous and evolving; leisure stimulates and eases the transitions of change while remaining a constant throughout life ($Freysinger, \, 1999$).

The Core Plus Balance Concept

Kelly ($1999$) introduced the concept of core plus balance to illustrate the life-span perspective of leisure. This theory posits that what we are in leisure today is based on what we were yesterday and how we will change tomorrow. The types of activities we choose, our frequency of participation, and our motivations are both constant and changing across the life span.

The "core" represents a persistent set of leisure interests that occupy most people for most of their lives. These core activities represent continuity. They are typically easily accessible, low-cost pastimes such as watching television, taking walks, playing cards, and reading. These activities usually occupy the greatest amount of our free time.

The "balance" of leisure consists of a variety of pastimes that shift as we grow older. To balance our core interests, we seek variety. For example, a child may play the saxophone in a school band; as a young adult, they may engage in whitewater kayaking; and as an older adult, they may take up flower gardening. Throughout these shifts, a core activity like reading fiction may remain consistent. This balance allows for the exploration of new roles and environments throughout different life stages.

Social Development and Friendship Across the Life Span

Healthy social relationships are paramount for maximum well-being at every age, acting as a core element of human existence. However, the nature and role of these friendships—the "balance"—evolve over time. Degges-White ($2017$) traced these roles: young children define friends as same-aged peers in close proximity, such as in the neighborhood or at school. As they enter school, they begin to understand social hierarchies and the desire for popularity.

Adolescents and young adults often use their friends as "mirrors," seeking friends who reflect the identities they desire. This explains why certain social behaviors, even negative ones, are accepted if the friend's power is desired. As identity stabilizes after the teen years, individuals look for friends who complement rather than just mirror them. In the $20s$ and $30s$, professional and social contexts demand involvement, and friends are sought to help navigate career ladders and social integration.

During parenthood, friendships often form in settings with other parents of same-aged children, serving as support systems for solving common problems. In mid-adult years, individuals begin to cherish genuine friends and often "edit" their social relationships as they gain more freedom from old responsibilities. Finally, in older adulthood, friendship circles may shrink due to relocation, retirement, illness, or decreased mobility. This shrinkage can cause depression and loneliness, making leisure a critical tool for seeking new social networks ($Searle \, et \, al., \, 1995$).

Physical Well-Being and Leisure

The World Health Organization ($WHO, \, 2006$) defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." Physical benefits from leisure shift across the life span: from developing motor control in children to sustaining health in middle years and reducing decline in older adulthood.

In the United States, average life expectancy is $78.7 \, \text{years}$, ranking $37th$ in the world, significantly behind Hong Kong SAR ($84.3 \, \text{years}$), Japan ($83.8 \, \text{years}$), Italy ($83.5 \, \text{years}$), and Spain ($83.4 \, \text{years}$). Regular participation in active leisure pursuits can add up to $10$ quality years to these expectations. For infants, play is a tool to master the body through random movement, progressing to motor skills like running and jumping by age $2$. Between ages $6$ and $12$, muscle tissue doubles and flexibility increases, requiring physical play for normal bone growth and neuromuscular coordination.

Adolescence is defined as the transition from childhood to adulthood ($"to \, grow \, up"$ in Latin), characterized by rapid physical changes, growth spurts, and hormonal increases. Active leisure helps teens cope with social and psychological awkwardness. Sport team participation is linked to higher life satisfaction, school connectedness, and social bonding ($Zullig \, \& \, White, \, 2010$). In young adulthood, physical capability peaks around the late $20s$ or early $30s$. While participation in high-risk sports may decrease after this peak, skill mastery (e.g., in golf) can increase enjoyment. After age $50$, muscle fibers decrease, and organ system deterioration can reach $50\%$. However, remaining physically vigorous through leisure can slow age-related disability and improve heart and lung capacity even if started late in life.

The Impact of Nature and the Crisis of Obesity

Nature-based leisure serves a major role in physical health. Researchers at the University of Exeter found that spending a minimum of $120 \, \text{minutes}$ per week in forests, mountains, or at the seaside is significantly associated with reducing the stress hormone cortisol, lowering heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol, and reducing the risk of coronary heart disease and type $2$ diabetes ($White \, et \, al., \, 2019$).

Despite these benefits, sedentary lifestyles have led to an obesity epidemic. Obesity is measured by Body Mass Index (BMI). An adult is overweight with a BMI of $25$ to $30$ and obese with a BMI over $30$. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ($2019$), the average American man weighs $198 \, \text{pounds}$ (up by $32 \, \text{pounds}$ since $1960$), and the average woman weighs $171 \, \text{pounds}$ (up by $31 \, \text{pounds}$ since $1960$). By $2030$, it is estimated that half of all U.S. adults will be obese. Childhood obesity has doubled since the $1970s$, partially due to increased screen time and poor food choices. High body fat leads to losses in muscular strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, and bone mass, and is linked to prediabetes, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea ($WHO, \, 2019$).

Social Well-Being and Levels of Play

Socialization is the process of learning to behave in a way acceptable to society. Play is a prime teacher for social development, helping children understand family relationships and how to get along with peers. Hughes ($2009$) identified six levels of social interaction in play:

1. Nonsocial (Infant to $1 \, \text{year}$): Unoccupied and unfocused with no peer interaction.
2. Solitary (Infant to $1 \, \text{year}$): Child plays alone with no peer interaction.
3. Onlooker ($2 \, \text{years}$): Interaction is limited to observing other children.
4. Parallel ($2$ to $3 \, \text{years}$): Children play alongside each other but do not interact significantly.
5. Associative ($4$ to $5 \, \text{years}$): Separate activities but interaction through exchanging toys or comments.
6. Cooperative ($6$ to $7 \, \text{years}$): Fully interactive play directed toward common goals with formalized roles or leaders.

Gender identity, a person's private sense of their own gender, is also developed through play socialization. Patterns often emerge early, with fathers often engaging in more physical, arousing play with male babies and mothers providing more verbal stimulation to female babies ($Berk, \, 2012$). Mass media and cultural institutions further reinforce these scripts, which can become problematic later in life. In adolescence, leisure contexts allow youth to practice autonomy and social negotiation. Social media has become a modern reference point where teens observe and present "selves" to their peers ($Herring \, \& \, Kapidzic, \, 2015$).

Intellectual Well-Being and Cognitive Development

Cognitive skills involve the ability to process information, reason, remember, and relate. Unstructured, self-motivated play promotes brain growth and higher IQs ($American \, Academy \, of \, Pediatrics, \, 2007$). Jean Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development:

1. Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to $2 \, \text{years}$): Knowledge is obtained through the senses and objects.
2. Preoperational Stage ($2$ to $7 \, \text{years}$): Use of language and imagination to build a facsimile of the world.
3. Concrete Operational Stage ($7$ to $11 \, \text{years}$): Logical thinking starts; children use symbols and abstract representations.
4. Formal Operations Stage ($11$ to $15 \, \text{years}$): Reasoning realistically by imagining all possibilities; thought becomes richer and more flexible.

In adults, the concept of neuroplasticity shows that the brain is not static but can adapt to its environment into old age ($Fuchs \, \& \, Fl\ddot{u}gge, \, 2014$). Leisure activities like games, crossword puzzles, and hobbies improve cognitive test scores ($Park \, et \, al., \, 2007$). Novel activities, such as juggling, increase the density of white matter in the brain's intraparietal sulcus after just $6 \, \text{weeks}$ ($Scholz \, et \, al., \, 2009$). Crafting (knitting, sewing, woodworking) involves multiple brain areas, quieting the "fight or flight" response and improving visuospatial processing and problem-solving.

Emotional Well-Being and Locus of Control

Leisure is often considered a positive state of mind. It aids emotional development by helping individuals manage feelings like fear, anxiety, and stress. Freud ($1955$) and Barnett ($1984$) argued that play allows children to master negative emotions through fantasy and symbolic play. A key emotional concept is the locus of control: the extent to which individuals believe they can control events that affect them. Internal locus of control (perceiving oneself as the origin of life events) is vital for emotional maturity.

In adulthood, the years from $35$ to $45$ are often called the "deadline decade" or "midlife crisis," characterized by stagnation and career changes ($Rapoport \, \& \, Rapoport, \, 1975$). Leisure activities during this time can lower levels of depression ($Pressman \, et \, al., \, 2009$). The $50s$ are a "reintegration period" for reevaluating life commitments. Retirement transitions can bring mixed emotions: joy for more free time vs. uncertainty due to lack of work structure. Success in retirement is often linked to the continuity of meaningful leisure interests, which act as a buffer against loneliness and aging-related health issues.

Questions & Discussion

Box 3.1: Calculating Your Life Span To illustrate the dynamic interrelationships among health, leisure, and life span, you can use Web-supported calculators like the Northwestern Mutual Longevity Game, Living to 100, or Sharecare RealAge. How would you describe the nature of the questions? Did any relate to leisure?

Box 3.3: Sport Training for Babies Companies like Lil' Kickers and Gymtrix offer sport and fitness training for babies as young as $12$ to $18 \, \text{months}$.

1. What is your opinion about sport training for babies and toddlers? Would you enroll your child? Why or why not?
2. In an era when we worry about the decline in physically active children, is this solution right or does it go overboard? Why?

Box 3.2: Blue Zones Blue Zones are regions where people live much longer than average ($1 \, \text{in} \, 3$ reach their $90s$). Identified areas include Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria (Greece), and Loma Linda (California). Common traits include: moderate regular physical activity, life purpose, stress reduction, moderate calories, plant-based diet, no smoking, and engagement in spirituality and family life ($Buettner, \, 2012$).

Box 3.6: Where in the Brain is Leisure? Brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor watched her own stroke shut down her left-brain functions. Her recovery unleashed creative energy from the right side of her brain. Through her TED talk, she explores how leisure and creativity reside within our neural architecture.

Question regarding Nursing Care: Experiments in the U.S. and the Netherlands use music, dancing, and simulated holiday trips to replace antipsychotic drugs for dementia patients. If the surroundings are simulated but the emotional engagement (singing, joking, memory sharing) is real, what does this tell us about the power of leisure for health?