Physical Activity of Children: A Global Matrix of Grades Comparing 15 Countries
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The Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC) Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth has been effective in powering the movement to get kids moving by influencing priorities, policies, and practice in Canada. The AHKC Report Card process was replicated in 14 additional countries from 5 continents using 9 common indicators (Overall Physical Activity, Organized Sport Participation, Active Play, Active Transportation, Sedentary Behavior, Family and Peers, School, Community and Built Environment, and Government Strategies and Investments), a harmonized process and a standardized grading framework. The 15 Report Cards were presented at the Global Summit on the Physical Activity of Children in Toronto on May 20, 2014. The consolidated findings are summarized here in the form of a global matrix of grades. There is a large spread in grades across countries for most indicators. Countries that lead in certain indicators lag in others. Overall, the grades for indicators of physical activity (PA) around the world are low/poor. Many countries have insufficient information to assign a grade, particularly for the Active Play and Family and Peers indicators. Grades for Sedentary Behaviors are, in general, better in low income countries. The Community and Built Environment indicator received high grades in high income countries and notably lower grades in low income countries. There was a pattern of higher PA and lower sedentary behavior in countries reporting poorer infrastructure, and lower PA and higher sedentary behavior in countries reporting better infrastructure, which presents an interesting paradox. Many surveillance and research gaps and weaknesses were apparent. International cooperation and cross-fertilization is encouraged to tackle existing challenges, understand underlying mechanisms, derive innovative solutions, and overcome the expanding childhood inactivity crisis.
Tremblay (corresponding author: mtremblay@cheo.on.ca) and Gray are with the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Canada. Akinroye is with the Nigerian Heart Foundation, Lagos, Nigeria. Harrington is with the Diabetes Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester General Hospital, United Kingdom. Katzmarzyk is with the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA. Lambert is with the MRC/UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Dept of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Liukkonen is with the Dept of Sport Sciences, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Maddison is with the National Institute for Health Innovation, University of Auckland, New Zealand. Ocansey is with the Active Lifestyle and Wellness Association Ghana, Healthy Active Kids-GH, Ghana. Onywera is with the Dept of Recreation Management and Exercise Science, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. Prista is with the Physical Activity & Health Research Group, Research Center on Sports Development and Physical Activity, Universidade Pedagógica, Maputo, Mozambique. Reilly is with the Physical Activity for Health Group, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Scotland. Rodríguez Martínez is with the Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente (ITESO), Jalisco, México. Sarmiento Duenas is with the Dept of Public Health, School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia. Standage is with the Dept for Health, University of Bath, United Kingdom. Tomkinson is with the Health and Use of Time Research Group, Sansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia.
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