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Results from South Africa’s 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

Catherine E. Draper, Simone A. Tomaz, Susan H. Bassett, Cora Burnett, Candice J. Christie, Colleen Cozett, Monique de Milander, Soezin Krog, Andries Monyeki, Niri Naidoo, Rowena Naidoo, Alessandra Prioreschi, Cheryl Walter, Estelle Watson, and Estelle V. Lambert

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Results From South Africa’s 2022 Healthy Active Kids’ Report Card on Physical Activity, Body Composition Proxies, and Nutritional Status in Children and Adolescents

Zingisa Z. Nyawose, Rowena Naidoo, Candice Christie, Susan Bassett, Dané Coetzee, Maya van Gent, Andries Monyeki, Philippe Gradidge, Christa Janse van Rensburg, Colleen Cozett, Marie Young, Wiedaad Slemming, Lumé Morrow, Anita Pienaar, Soezin Krog, Cheryl Walter, Aayesha Kholvadia, Monique De Milander, Niri Naidoo, and Estelle V. Lambert

Background: Physical activity (PA) and nutrition in children have an impact on overall physical and mental well-being, cognitive, and social development. This study aims to report on the best current available evidence on PA, body composition proxies, and nutritional status of South African children and adolescents, based on the published findings between 2018 and 2022, which comprise the 2022 Healthy Active Kids South Africa Report Card. Methods: A comprehensive literature search of online databases, along with hand searching and a gray literature search, was conducted based on PA, body composition proxies, and nutrition indicators defined, in part, by the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance. Results: Compared with the 2018 report card, there was an improvement in the majority of PA indicators which include overall PA (B–), active transportation (B–), physical fitness (B–), and government policy and programs (C). Body composition proxies and most of the nutrition indicators remained unchanged. The indicators that regressed from 2018 to 2022 included community and environmental influences (D), as well as participation in organized sport (D–). Conclusions: Despite the apparent improvement in overall PA levels in children and adolescents, there is a lack of tangible evidence of actual implementation of policies and programs. There was also a lack of nationally representative data for most indicators. Overall, there is a need to identify intersectoral, equitable approaches for promoting PA and healthy eating in South African children and adolescents and ongoing monitoring and surveillance.

Open access

Global Matrix 4.0 Physical Activity Report Card Grades for Children and Adolescents: Results and Analyses From 57 Countries

Salomé Aubert, Joel D. Barnes, Iryna Demchenko, Myranda Hawthorne, Chalchisa Abdeta, Patrick Abi Nader, José Carmelo Adsuar Sala, Nicolas Aguilar-Farias, Susana Aznar, Peter Bakalár, Jasmin Bhawra, Javier Brazo-Sayavera, Mikel Bringas, Jonathan Y. Cagas, Angela Carlin, Chen-Kang Chang, Bozhi Chen, Lars Breum Christiansen, Candice Jo-Anne Christie, Gabriela Fernanda De Roia, Christine Delisle Nyström, Yolanda Demetriou, Visnja Djordjic, Arunas Emeljanovas, Liri Findling Endy, Aleš Gába, Karla I. Galaviz, Silvia A. González, Kylie D. Hesketh, Wendy Yajun Huang, Omphile Hubona, Justin Y. Jeon, Danijel Jurakić, Jaak Jürimäe, Tarun Reddy Katapally, Piyawat Katewongsa, Peter T. Katzmarzyk, Yeon-Soo Kim, Estelle Victoria Lambert, Eun-Young Lee, Sharon Levi, Pablo Lobo, Marie Löf, Tom Loney, José Francisco López-Gil, Juan López-Taylor, Evelin Mäestu, Agus Mahendra, Daga Makaza, Marla Frances T. Mallari, Taru Manyanga, Bojan Masanovic, Shawnda A. Morrison, Jorge Mota, Falk Müller-Riemenschneider, Laura Muñoz Bermejo, Marie H. Murphy, Rowena Naidoo, Phuong Nguyen, Susan Paudel, Željko Pedišić, Jorge Pérez-Gómez, John J. Reilly, Anne Kerstin Reimers, Amie B. Richards, Diego Augusto Santos Silva, Pairoj Saonuam, Olga L. Sarmiento, Vedrana Sember, Mohd Razif Shahril, Melody Smith, Martyn Standage, Gareth Stratton, Narayan Subedi, Tuija H. Tammelin, Chiaki Tanaka, Riki Tesler, David Thivel, Dawn Mahube Tladi, Lenka Tlučáková, Leigh M. Vanderloo, Alun Williams, Stephen Heung Sang Wong, Ching-Lin Wu, Paweł Zembura, and Mark S. Tremblay

Background: The Global Matrix 4.0 on physical activity (PA) for children and adolescents was developed to achieve a comprehensive understanding of the global variation in children’s and adolescents’ (5–17 y) PA, related measures, and key sources of influence. The objectives of this article were (1) to summarize the findings from the Global Matrix 4.0 Report Cards, (2) to compare indicators across countries, and (3) to explore trends related to the Human Development Index and geo-cultural regions. Methods: A total of 57 Report Card teams followed a harmonized process to grade the 10 common PA indicators. An online survey was conducted to collect Report Card Leaders’ top 3 priorities for each PA indicator and their opinions on how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted child and adolescent PA indicators in their country. Results: Overall Physical Activity was the indicator with the lowest global average grade (D), while School and Community and Environment were the indicators with the highest global average grade (C+). An overview of the global situation in terms of surveillance and prevalence is provided for all 10 common PA indicators, followed by priorities and examples to support the development of strategies and policies internationally. Conclusions: The Global Matrix 4.0 represents the largest compilation of children’s and adolescents’ PA indicators to date. While variation in data sources informing the grades across countries was observed, this initiative highlighted low PA levels in children and adolescents globally. Measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, local/international conflicts, climate change, and economic change threaten to worsen this situation.