France’s 2020 Report Card on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors in Children and Youth: Results and Progression

in Journal of Physical Activity and Health

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Alicia Fillon
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Pauline Genin
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Benjamin Larras
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Jeremy Vanhelst
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Maxime Luiggi
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Salome Aubert
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Charlotte Verdot
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Olivier Rey
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Lena Lhuisset
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Julien Bois
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Nicole Fearnbach
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Martine Duclos
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David Thivel
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2021-0025
Keywords:
adolescents; active transportation; physical activity promotion
First Published Online:
26 May 2021
In Print:
Volume 18: Issue 7
Page Range:
811–817
Restricted access

Background: There is an alarming and constant worldwide progression of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviors in children and adolescents. The present paper summarizes findings from France’s 2020 Report Card on physical activity for children and youth, comparing its results to its 2 previous editions (2016 and 2018). Methods: France’s 2020 Report Card follows the standardized methodology established by the Active Healthy Kids Global Matrix, grading 10 common physical activity indicators using the best available evidence. The grades were informed by national surveys, peer-reviewed literature, government and nongovernment reports, and online information. Results: The expert panel awarded the following grades: Overall Physical Activity: D; Organized Sport Participation and Physical Activity: C−; Active Play: INC; Active Transportation: C−; Sedentary Behaviors: D−; Family and Peers: D−; Physical Fitness: D; School: B−; Community and the Built Environment: F; Government: C. Conclusions: This 2020 edition of France’s Report Card again highlights the alarming levels of physical activity and sedentary behaviors among French children and adolescents, calling for the development of effective national action. It also draws attention to the particular deleterious effects of the COVID-19 confinement on youth’s movement behaviors, which significantly worsened the situation.

Fillon, Genin, Larras, Bois, Duclos, and Thivel are with the National Observatory for Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviors (ONAPS), Clermont-Ferrand, France. Fillon, Genin, and Thivel are also with the Laboratory of the Metabolic Adaptations to Exercise Under Physiological and Pathological Conditions (AME2P), Clermont Auvergne University, CRNH Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France. Vanhelst is with the Inserm U1286—INFINITE—Institute for Translational Research in Inflammation, CIC 1403—Centre d’Investigation Clinique, Centre Hospitalier et de recherche Universitaire (CHRU) de Lille Université de Lille, Lille, France. Luiggi is with the Institut national du sport de l’expertise et de la performance, Pôle Performance, Unité Recherche et Laboratoire SEP, Paris, France. Aubert is with the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Verdot is with the Équipe de surveillance et d’épidémiologie nutritionnelle (Esen); Direction des maladies non-transmissibles et traumatismes (DMNTT)—Santé publique France, Université Paris 13—Sorbonne Paris Nord, Centre de recherche en Épidémiologie et Statistiques (CRESS), Bobigny, France. Rey is with the Institut des sciences du mouvement, UMR CNRS 7287, Structure Fédérative d’Études et de Recherches en Éducation de Provence, FED 4238, Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France. Lhuisset and Bois are with the Universite de Pau & des Pays de l’Adour, E2S UPPA, MEPS, Tarbes, France. Fearnbach is with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA, USA. Duclos is with the INRAE, UMR 1019, Clermont-Ferrand, France; the University Clermont Auvergne, UFR Medicine, Clermont-Ferrand, France; and the Department of Sport Medicine and Functional Explorations, G. Montpied Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Thivel (david.thivel@uca.fr) is corresponding author.

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