Skateboarding helps middle-aged with health issues, study finds

Older people take up skateboarding to deal with breakups, look cool on television and prevent dementia, reports Furvah Shah

Dr Paul O’Connor, from the University of Exeter, carried out 30 interviews with middle-aged skateboarders in Hong Kong and the UK (John Walton/PA) (PA Archive)

Skateboarding for middle-aged people helps them navigate health issues, bond with their children and cope with personal challenges, a study has found.

The study by Dr Paul O’Connor, a lecturer at the University of Exeter, involved interviews with middle-aged skateboarders and observations of skating communities in the UK and Hong Kong.

Dr O’Connor found older people who take part in the sport described it as a “spiritual outlet” in their lives which helps them build friendships, freedom and a wider community.