Sport and Health

Sport and health are a priority for the CNOSF and the sports movement.

Since 2009, the CNOSF medical commission has defined the concept of “sport and health” as follows:
« Sport and health aims to establish the conditions for practising a sport in order to maintain or improve health as a primary, secondary, or tertiary form of prevention ».

Thanks to the commitment of sports federations, the CNOSF medical committee has developed Médicosport-Santé©, a medical dictionary of athletic disciplines. In close cooperation with the French Society of Medicine, Exercise and Sport (SFMES), it lists the physical, physiological and mental characteristics of each discipline, as well as the conditions for practice within the framework of sport and health. It is intended to help general practitioners to prescribe or recommend physical and athletic activities.

Sport and health programmes target a wide audience:
• For primary prevention, people in good health but who are physically inactive or sedentary.
• For secondary and tertiary prevention, people with chronic conditions.

Médicosport-Santé

Médicosport-Santé is published annually. The latest edition was published in December 2018. Forty-five sports federations are involved in this work:

• Olympic Federations
- Athletics
- Rowing
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Canoeing/kayaking and paddle sports
- Cycling
- Fencing
- Football
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Weightlifting/bodybuilding
- Handball
- Judo
- Karate
- Climbing and mountaineering
- Swimming
- Modern pentathlon
- Rugby
- Skiing
- Winter sports
- Tennis
- Table tennis
- Archery
- Triathlon
- Sailing
- Volleyball

• Non-Olympic Federations

- Chinese energy and martial arts
- Billiards
- Sand yachting
- Sports Clubs
- Orienteering
- Bicycle touring
- Physical education and voluntary gymnastics
- Pétanque and Jeu Provençal
- Hiking
- Sports retreat
- Savate (French boxing)
- Adaptive sports
- Sports Pour Tous (sports for everyone)
- ASPTT
- Sports and Cultural Federation of France (FSCF)
- National Union of University Clubs (UNCU)
- Léo Lagrange National Sports Union (UNS)

Médicosport-Santé currently treats nine families of pathologies and states of health:

• Pathologies
- Musculoskeletal system
- Cancers
- Cardiovascular issues
- Metabolic issues (diabetes and obesity)
- Neurological issues
- Psychiatric issues

• States of health
- Advanced age
- Childhood and adolescence
- Pregnancy and post-partum

The athletic disciplines and pathologies currently taken into account in Médicosport-Santé are those which have been presented so far by the federations affiliated with the CNOSF and evaluated by its medical commission. Other federations and pathologies will eventually be added to this work. Regular updates are intended to make Médicosport-Santé as thorough as possible.

The Médicosport-Santé Committee

Each federal protocol presented in Médicosport-Santé has been approved by the Médicosport-Santé Committee (CMSS). As a sub-committee under the CNOSF medical committee, it is composed of medical experts, physiotherapists, and experts in the science and techniques of physical and athletic activities (STAPS).

The missions of the CMSS are to:
• Assist sport federations in developing their sport and health programmes and to evaluate these.
• Prepare the general chapters of Médicosport-Santé regarding the benefits of physical and athletic activities on various conditions and states of health.

Sport and Health Committees

The sport federations have created sport and health committees bringing together leaders, health professionals, and sport technicians whose main mission is to develop and coordinate federal policy on physical activity and sport for health purposes.
Federal sport and health programmes are led by sport and health experts who coordinate the respective actions in close contact with the relevant medical commission or sport and health committee. The involvement of this network has been essential in developing Médicosport-Santé.

The missions of the sport and health committees are to:
• Promote health among qualified professionals and other practitioners.
• Promote the practice of sport for health purposes.
• Make sport more accessible to new audiences such as the elderly and patients with chronic conditions.
• Develop existing sport and health services for the federations already involved.

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