Research Impact: The Global Matrix of Physical Activity Report Cards was launched in 2014 to benchmark physical activity promotion efforts targeted at children and youth. In 2018, 49 countries took part in the initiative, where grades are assigned to various indicators in order to assess global variation in child and youth physical activity. In this paper we sought to we sought to examine the factors considered when assigning the grades for the ‘school’ and ‘community and environment’ indicators across European countries for the 2018 Global Matrix.
Seventeen of the 20 European Report Card countries (85%) had a grade for schools, and 15 countries (75%) had a grade for community and environment. The most frequently reported factor on which the School grades were based was physical education, while for the Community and Environment indicator ‘perceptions of neighbourhood safety’ was most frequently used. There were wide disparities in the number and sources of evidence used to assign the grades for both indicators, limiting the comparability of the evidence between different countries.
To enhance comparability, the authors recommend moving towards an agreed standardised set of metrics for grading each indicator in European countries.
Coppinger, T., K. Milton, E. Murtagh, D. Harrington, D. Johansen, J. Seghers, T. Skovgaard, A. Chalkley, on belhalf of the HEPA Europe Children and Youth Working Group (2020). “Global Matrix 3.0 physical activity report card for children and youth: a comparison across Europe.” Public Health 187: 150-156. DOI: 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.07.025
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