Results from Portugal's 2022 report card on physical activity for children and youth

Andreia Pizarro; José Miguel Oliveira-Santos; Rute Santos; José Carlos Ribeiro; Maria Paula Santos; Manuel Coelho-E-Silva; Armando M Raimundo; Luís B Sardinha; Jorge Mota

doi:10.1016/j.jesf.2023.05.002

Results from Portugal's 2022 report card on physical activity for children and youth

J Exerc Sci Fit. 2023 Jul;21(3):280-285. doi: 10.1016/j.jesf.2023.05.002. Epub 2023 May 29.

Authors

Andreia Pizarro^{1

2}, José Miguel Oliveira-Santos^{1

2}, Rute Santos^{3

4}, José Carlos Ribeiro^{1

2}, Maria Paula Santos^{1

2}, Manuel Coelho-E-Silva⁵, Armando M Raimundo⁶, Luís B Sardinha⁷, Jorge Mota^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Portugal.
² Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health, Rua das Taipas 135, 4050-600, Porto, Portugal.
³ Research Centre in Child Studies, University of Minho, Portugal.
⁴ Institute of Education, University of Minho, Portugal.
⁵ University of Coimbra, FCDEF, Portugal.
⁶ Universidade de Évora, Escola de Saúde e Desenvolvimento Humano - Departamento de Desporto e Saúde, Comprehensive Health Research Centre (CHRC), Portugal.
⁷ Exercise and Health Laboratory, CIPER, Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon, Portugal.

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study is to update results of Portuguese's Report Card on Physical activity (PA) for Children and Adolescents.

Methods: The grades were assigned by results derived from the PA and Fitness in Portugal 2021 Portuguese Report Card and corresponds to the third report for the Portuguese children and adolescents. It includes indicators of PA and sedentary behavior (SB) that are common to the GLOBAL matrix 4.0: Overall Physical Activity, Organized Sport and Physical Activity, Active Play, Active Transportation, Sedentary Behaviors, Family and Peers, School, Community and the Environment, Government and Physical Fitness. The search focused on published national evidence/data sources (academia, NGO, governmental) from end 2018 onwards excluding data obtained during the covid-19 pandemic.

Results: The grades were assigned as follows: Overall PA (D^-), Organized Sport Participation (C^-), Active Play (D⁺), Active Transportation (D^-), Sedentary behaviors (C⁺), Physical Fitness (C), Family and Peers (B), School (A), Community and Environment (B), and Government (B).

Conclusion: In line with previous Portuguese Report Cards, a large proportion of Portuguese children and adolescents are not sufﬁciently active nor fit enough setting urgency for effective strategies. Particular attention should be given to Active play, Active transport and Organized Sports Participation has their grades have decreased. Some actions in selected indicators as Governmental and policy seems promising however results weren't seen yet. Despite the strong support of schools with mandatory curricula in PE no correspondent change is observed in fitness or PA, so more research is needed to find why.

Keywords: Epidemiology; Global matrix 4.0; Physical activity; Surveillance.