The relationship between motor activity and health through the perception of competence

A regular physical activity and its involvement into everyday life have always been very important issues, frequent topics of interest in scientific literature, and mainly referred to adolescents and children. The positive social psychological effects of a regular physical activity, on the short and long run, are well established, but they have not yet provided us with any significant reasons why physical activity usually declines at a certain age. Research has shown that a constant physical activity gives general wellbeing and prevents from many diseases; nevertheless, it has also been shown that the practice of physical activity usually decreases significantly during adolescence. Increasing the quality of everyday life means a careful attention to the relationship among our environment, the individual himself, and the physical activity that is being performed. In this perspective, it is necessary to consider the individuals’ health perception, the behaviour related to this perception, and the relevant consequences of this. As an indicator of wellbeing, self-esteem becomes crucial, both for evaluative and educational purposes, and for strengthening the feeling of “control”. The aim of this paper is to carry on research among the relationship between regular physical activity and its benefits, towards physical and mental health, to verify the effectiveness of interventions.