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 RoiaChristine 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, Mark S Tremblay

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

151 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)700-728
Number of pages29
JournalJournal of Physical Activity & Health
Volume19
Issue number11
Early online date24 Oct 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 30 Nov 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors are grateful for all the hard work by each participating country’s Report Card team members and Leaders and all other members of their Report Card Committees. The authors also want to thank Malebogo Gaolatlhe-Monnaatsie and Fiona Gillison for completing the online survey. SA provided scientific and management support to the development of the Global Matrix 4.0; created the online survey and performed the quantitative and qualitative analyses of its replies, and wrote the present article. JDB provided online technical support to the development of the Global Matrix 4.0, performed all the statistical analyses involving grades, and contributed to the present article. ID was the project coordinator of the Global Matrix 4.0 and contributed to the present article. MH provided technical support to the development of the online surveys and the project coordination of the Global Matrix 4.0 and reviewed the present article. MST provided scientific and management support to the development of the Global Matrix 4.0 and contributed to the present article. The remaining authors contributed equally as leaders/co-leaders of a Report Card, completed the online survey, and contributed to/reviewed the present article.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Human Kinetics, Inc.

Keywords

  • active transport
  • physical education
  • sedentary behaviors
  • sport
  • surveillance
  • youth

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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