National strategy(ies)

National guidelines for prevention and treatment for unhealthy lifestyle

In the national guidelines for prevention and treatment for unhealthy lifestyle from 2018 (Nationella riktlinjer för prevention och behandling vid ohälsosamma levnadsvanor), the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) gives recommendations concerning unhealthy lifestyles and habits. The purpose of the guidelines is to stimulate the use of scientifically evaluated and effective measures in this area, and to provide a basis for open and systematic healthcare priorities.

Recommendations for children and adolescents under 18 are presented in a separate chapter. These recommendations  include insufficient physical activity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. Three recommendations affecting children under 12 years of age include unhealthy eating habits and insufficient physical activity.

Sports policy

The current government document promoting the role of sport, youth fitness and physical activity is the government bill Government support to sport activities (Statens stöd till idrotten) set up in 2009, based on the government bill A sports policy for the 2000s (En idrottspolitik för 2000-talet), set up in 1999. The policy bill addressed the population in general, while children and adolescents are identified as a priority group.

The policy consists of a long-term orientation, focusing on high ethical standards, increased participation, volunteering, equity and integration in sports. The key objectives in the policy bill are:

• Providing opportunities for all girls and boys, women and men to exercise, hence contributing to a lifelong interest in exercise and healthy lifestyle.
• Supporting a free and independent sports movement and providing positive experiences of sport as entertainment.
• Ensuring that all sports activities for children and youth are consistent with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
• Strengthening and developing cooperation between sports associations, schools and others engaged in efforts to promote physical activity and good exercise habits.

Sports in government's budget bill for 2025

According to the government's budget bill for 2025, a free and independent sports movement that engages many and is significant for human community and public health is a starting point for the state's sports policy. The sports movement must be inclusive, accessible and open to all. 

Further, the government states that organized sports should be a safe place for all children and young people and that sports should meet children and young people according to each person's unique conditions. Therefore, the work against unsafe sports environments is particularly important. In the same way, the work to make sports easily accessible to everyone is a priority. Access to facilities and sports environments is a decisive factor in being able to conduct sporting activities and thus important for both public health and Swedish club sports. The opportunity to participate in club sports should not depend on who you are, where you live or what your background is, sports should be accessible and welcoming to everyone.

The government stresses also the importance of strengthening sport's resilience against sport-related crime. In order for sport to be a positive force in society, it must be protected against crime and supported by the relevant authorities. In order to strengthen the sports movement's resilience against sports-related crime, not least directed at young athletes, the government proposes SEK 10 million (about 880 000 euro) per year to be allocated to the National Sports Confederation from 2025. The investment will strengthen the work of sports and the opportunity to collaborate with relevant actors to counter sports-related crime and support sports with particularly large challenges linked to sports-related crime.

Responsible authority and organisation

The National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) is responsible for giving recommendations concerning unhealthy lifestyles and habits.

Since 2015, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs deals with issues concerning sports policy. As mentioned above, the government approach comprises mainly of subsidy allocations.  

The responsible actor for coordination of the subsidy allocations is the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet), a civil society organisation. The Swedish Sports Confederation is responsible for distribution, administration, organisation and monitoring of the grants.

According to the ordinance on government grants to sports (Förordning om statsbidrag till idrottsverksamhet), the Swedish Sports Confederation has to annually provide a comprehensive accounting of who has received grants, the amounts and purposes. Also, the confederation must each year present a summary to the government on how the allocations have been used and assess the impact of the subsidy, in relation to the objectives set by the government.

Evidence based monitoring

Since 2009, the Swedish Research Council for sport science (Centrum för idrottsforskning) at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (Gymnastik- och idrottshögskolan), has the government task to follow up the government's support to sports organisations. This is done through regular and long-term monitoring of the government support to sports organisations, based on a number of indicators, in-depth analyses and additional research.   

The latest evaluation of government’s support to sports movement was conducted in 2023, focusing on the collective sports movement's conditions and prerequisites for conducting competitive and sustainable elite sports activities.

Some findings from the evaluation were:

• In terms of strengths, Sweden stands out through good sports and exercise habits among its citizens. A large part of the Swedish population is physically active in their spare time. Many children and young people are members of a sports club. Although there are worrying signs of declining activity levels, Swedish broad sports can be regarded as a strength and asset for the Swedish elite sports system.
• An additional strength is that Swedish sports have well-functioning systems for identifying and developing talent. The vast majority of children and young people play sports in an association, and there are good opportunities for young people to try different sports and thus discover their talents. There is also great competence and talented coaches in the sports movement's local associations. For the young people who choose to invest in their sports, there is a relatively well-developed system to combine elite sports with studies. Sweden also has good quality sports facilities. All in all, there are thus many elements in traditional Swedish association sports that create good conditions for developing and running a successful elite sport.
• In Sweden, there are opportunities for young people with elite ambitions to combine sports and studies. Already at primary school level, there are schools with special sports profiles, where young people can practice their sports during school hours. At the upper secondary level, there are national sports high schools with national admission as well as nationally approved sports education with local admission. At the university level, there are national sports universities and elite sports-friendly institutions of higher education, i.e. universities and university colleges that offer support for elite athletes in combining their sports with university studies.
• The researchers emphasize the importance of young people with elite ambitions being given the opportunity to combine their sports and studies, not least at upper secondary school level. Unfortunately, even in this survey there are signs of unequal conditions. Although the admission procedures are supposed to give all applicants equal opportunities, research shows a clear connection between socio-economic background and which young people are finally admitted.

​Specific target groups within the youth population

A specific target group in the bill 'Government support to sport activities'  (Statens stöd till idrotten) is young people with disabilities. The bill states that young people with disabilities are underrepresented within organised sports activities, and that they tend to quit exercising earlier than others do in their age group. For that reason, sports associations need to increase their efforts to create activities that are more inclusive and where even children and young people with disabilities can feel included. This means that children and young people with disabilities, who can exercise and compete with children and young people without disabilities, should be encouraged and supported to do so. 

Promoting and supporting sport and physical activity among young people

The government’s support to sports amounts in 2024 to roughly 188 million euros (2.1 billion SEK). In 2022, about 4.8 million euros (55 million SEK) were distributed as local activity support (lokalt aktivitetstöd) for organised sports activities for children and young people between 7 and 25 years of age. According to the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet), grants can be allocated to sport activities which involve performance and competitive oriented sport, health and fitness oriented sport, and to recreational sport in which a central element of physical activity is included.

The government is implementing an investment to introduce a leisure card for children and young people in 2025, which aims, among other things, to provide increased access to sports and outdoor life. In order to prepare for the launch of the leisure card, the government decided to i.a. award the National Sports Confederation SEK 100 million (about 88 million euros) to carry out preparatory and capacity-building efforts in 2024. The government set aside an additional SEK 100 million in 2024 to the National Sports Confederation to finance and support increased access to facilities and sports environments and thereby promote the participation of children and young people in sports and leisure activities.

Physical education in schools

Status of physical education in the curriculum

The curriculum states that schools should aim to ensure that learners have opportunity of regularly carrying out physical activities. Physical education and health is one of the upper secondary foundation subjects that are included in all upper secondary education, both general and vocational. All students are obliged to 100 credit points (corresponding about  the same number of lessons) in physical education, of the total of 2 500 credits required for a vocational diploma/a diploma for admission to higher education.

Promoting physical activity in schools

Physical activity investment in school (rörelsesatsning i skolan) is an ongoing government assignment to the National Sports Confederation, that started in 2023 and aims to build bridges between schools, children and sports associations. The initiative is aimed at all primary school children, but above all those who are the least active. According to the government, the investment for increased physical activity in school shows good results, not least that the least physically active students at school have benefited from the efforts and become more active. Physical activity investment in school included over 900 sports associations and is in 1150 schools in more than 180 municipalities in 2024.

An earlier government initiative from 2017 was an initiative for enhanced possibilities for daily exercising in schools (Samling för daglig rörelse). In comparison to other European countries, Sweden has been at the lower level when it comes to the extent of teaching hours in physical education. A report from the European Commission from 2013 showed that only seven out of 31 countries had fewer sports lessons in compulsory education than Sweden.

As a part of the initiative, the government has instructed the National Agency for Education to submit proposals on how to reach the goal of all students being part of physical activity every day. In December 2018, the Agency for Education has sent a proposal for consideration to actors such as central government agencies, special interest groups and local government authorities. The proposals concern an addition in the Curriculum. New area of responsibility is proposed for school principals, and that is for creating good conditions for physical activities during the school day.

The teaching time in the subject of physical education and health was expanded with 100 hours in compulsory education, starting from 2019. If the lessons were concentrated on, for example, grades 7 to 9, this means about one extra lesson per week.

A network of stakeholders, the Swedish Sports Confederation (Riksidrottsförbundet), the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (Gymnastik och Idrottshögskolan) and Swedish Outdoor Life (Svenskt Friluftsliv), together with the teachers' unions, will hold a continuous dialogue on, among other things, skills development among teachers in physical education and health.

Pedagogical tools and support provided to teachers

The Swedish National Agency for Education (Skolverket) has in collaboration with the National Agency for Special Needs Education and Schools (Specialpedagogiska skolmyndigheten) developed the movie Physical Education and Health on Equal terms (Likvärdig undervisning i ämnet idrott och hälsa). The film describes ways to create opportunities for all students, regardless of ability, to participate in physical education.

In connection to the movie, a study package has been developed containing guidelines and materials to support teachers, work-teams and schools with their efforts to develop physical education for those in need of special support, in order to create equal conditions for all students.

Continuing professional development (CPD)

In Sweden, the ’teachers boost’ programme (Lärarlyftet) is aimed at providing CPD opportunities for compulsory school teachers lacking formally required qualifications for subjects which they already teach as part of their duty. As far as physical education is concerned, this initiative offers several courses intended specifically for general teachers in charge of physical education and health in compulsory education.

Collaboration and partnerships

​Collaboration between schools and sports organisations

There is no clear support or legal framework in Sweden for collaboration and formation of partnerships between authorities, schools, health professionals and youth workers, in order to promote youth fitness and physical activity among young people. However, the government has been supporting collaboration with schools and sports clubs through different initiatives, of which physical activity investment in school is the latest and still ongoing, as described above (Promoting physical activity in schools).

School sports associations

School sports associations (skolidrottsföreningar) offer activities for learners on their own terms, in connection with the school day. The School Sports Federation (Skolidrottsförbundet) is the national organisation for school sports clubs. Today, there are about 1 300 school sports associations with about 150 000 members.