Guideline:
Team led by PESS Researcher produces updated physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines for Ireland.
In 2009, the Department of Health & Children published the National Physical Activity Guidelines for Ireland offering recommendations for weekly physical activity. These guidelines served as a valuable resource for both the general public and professionals involved in promoting physical activity. In the last decade, the World Health Organisation has published two iterations of global physical activity guidelines: The Global Recommendations on Physical Activity for Health in 2010, followed by the Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour in 2020. The Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour, published in 2020, offer a list of evidence-based recommendations for physical activity and sedentary behaviour for health benefits for multiple population groups. The World Health Organisation encourages national governments to adopt the Guidelines for Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour (World Health Organisation, 2020) as part of their national policy frameworks, thus providing a “rapid and cost-effective method to develop guidelines tailored to local context”. In September 2023 an international research team led by Professor Elaine Murtagh (PESS) began a project, supported by the HSE Healthy Eating and Active Living team, to update the national physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines for Ireland. This blog provides an overview of the process and an insight into the key results.
The project was conducted over a three-stage process. Firstly, a review of evidence published since the World Health Organisation’s Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour was conducted in Stage 1. In Stage 2, an expert meeting to develop a set of proposed guidelines and messages was developed, and public and professional perceptions were investigated through surveys. Finally, a consensus meeting was held with national level stakeholders with a role in the promotion of physical activity in Ireland to agree upon a set of guidelines and messages.
Findings from stage one suggested that there was a paucity of evidence published since 2019 which would warrant adapting the physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines set out by the World Health Organisation in 2020. Thus, it was recommended that Ireland adopt the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organisation.
Following consultation with the project team consisting of experts from the University of Limerick, Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, University of Bristol, Ulster University, University of Edinburgh, and South East Technological University in Stage 2, lay summaries of the guidelines and a suite of corresponding messages targeted at public and professional audiences were compiled and included in surveys which gathered the perceptions of the public and professional audiences to both the lay summaries of the guidelines and the persuasive messages. There was a high level of agreement amongst 215 respondents of the public survey that the lay summaries of the physical activity guidelines were clear and relevant to all population groups. There was also a high level of agreement among members of the public that the suite of persuasive messages were motivating and appealing. Data collected from 187 professionals and practitioners with a role in physical activity promotion suggested the physical activity guidelines were important and frequently used in their professional roles. Data from professional audiences also suggested that the physical activity and sedentary behaviour guidelines were clear and understandable.
The work carried out as part of this project will have major impact on future Irish physical activity policy and practice. Currently, the work is in the final stages and the project team are compiling a report made up of recommendations for the HSE to carry forward into the development and implementation of the next iteration of Ireland’s national physical activity policy.
Dr. Dylan Power is a Research Assistant in the Physical Activity for Health Research Cluster at Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department, University of Limerick.
Contact: Email: dylan.power@ul.ie – Twitter: @_dpower
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