It was in 2003 that the EU Commission Directorate General for Education and Culture commissioned a Study on young people's lifestyles and sedentariness and the role of sport in the context of education and as a means of restoring the balance . The purpose of this study was to compile an intercultural comparative analysis of adolescents' lifestyles within the EU. This analysis was based on international and national studies from the areas of epidemiology, cardiology, paediatrics, physiology, nutrition, psychology, sociology and sport sciences dealing with physical activity, fitness and motor abilities.