Vliv lockdownu na sportovní aktivitu dětí v ČR

This bachelor’s thesis examines the impact of COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns on organized sports activity among youth in the Czech Republic. The aim is to identify the factors that most contributed to the decline in sports participation and to embed the microeconomic findings within the broader macroeconomic context of public health insurance expenditures. The theoretical framework draws on Grossman’s human capital model, sports economics and behavioral economics. The empirical analysis combines a logistic regression on survey data with a fixed-effects panel model based on data from the General health Insurance Company of the Czech Republic for the years 2014 to 2024. The results show that the probability of discontinuing or reducing organized sports after the pandemic does not depend primarily on the size of the municipality but rather on the level of prior sports engagement, membership in the national team, and the economic situation of the family. National team members have a 73 % lower probability of dropping out, children training at high intensity a 58 % lower probability and children from families with reduced income a 71 % higher probability. The panel model confirms a statistically significant increase in real healthcare expenditures of 4.22 % above the pre-pandemic trend, with the highest increase (+21.7 %) observed in the age group of 5-9 years, group of children born after 2010, who were at the critical age of habit formation during the lockdown. The thesis contributes to the understanding of the long-term socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic and provides empirical support for targeted policies aimed at restoring sports habits among youth.