From its origins in late 19c Germany, the social nudity movement has sought to associated itself with physical and mental health, but in the more sexually conservative cultures of the UK and USA its relationship to sexual well-being has always been more controversial.

Opponents of social nudity have tended to advance the notion that mixed gender nudity will result in unrestrained sexual activity - or even that such activity is the principal motivation of naturists.

In an understandable attempt to counter such accusations, the majority of naturists and naturist organisations have maintained a strongly asexual culture and any discussion about the relationship between social nudity and sexuality remains generally frowned upon.

In recent years, the increased sexualisation of popular culture, greater openness with regard to sexual matters and the growth of sexual activity in secluded but public places ("dogging") have combined to make the assertion that naturism is entirely asexual less credible to observers from outside the naturist community.

In the UK, government legislation has viewed the relationship between social nudity and sexuality from a pathological and criminal perspective - notably in the Sexual Offences Act (2003) and several naturist beaches have witnessed an increase in police surveillance and official intervention in an effort to eliminate any sign of sexual behaviour. Since such behaviour is widely viewed as being a significant threat to the continued availability of public spaces for naturism, these measures have been encouraged and supported by sections of the naturist community.

Recent academic research has begun to explore this complex and historical relationship while highlighting how erotic experiences within naturism may actually enhance sexual wellbeing and be a positive force within naturism and of potential benefit to society as a whole.