We conducted a comparative analysis of municipalities from 4 EU countries and Japan, focusing on the policies local governments use to promote physical activity (PA): Jyväskylä (Finland), Nice (France), Erlangen (Germany), Fujisawa (Japan), and Cluj-Napoca (Romania). The study was the first one to apply the CAPLA-Santé, a tool for analysing local physical activity policies, outside of France and the first to use it for an international comparative analysis. Results highlight the variety in responsibility for PA promotion, with it being managed by either the sport or health sector. Our study identified 50 relevant PA policy documents targeting diverse settings and groups, with varying budget allocations. Research has influenced policy development in some but not all municipalities. Political support was a key driver for local PA promotion. The exploratory study suggests that there may be a causal relationship between the national political and economic context, and differences in local PA policies. While this was an in-depth analysis of a small number of municipalities, future research should also aim to assess local physical activity policies comparatively at a large scale.
Messing, S. , Noël Racine, A. , Takeda, N. , Onatsu, T. , Tuunanen, K. , Papiu, A. , Birkholz, L. , Garbarino, J. , Oguma, Y. , Saito, Y. , Mocan, D. , Cherecheș, R. M. , Vuillemin, A. , Gelius, P. and Sandu, P. (2025). What Policies Do Local Governments Use to Promote Physical Activity? A Comparative Analysis of Municipalities From 4 EU Countries and Japan. International Journal of Health Policy and Management. https://doi.org/10.34172/ijhpm.8594
Sven Messing is a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre, HRI, PESS. His work focuses on monitoring physical activity policies at different levels of government.
sven.messing@ul.ie. Follow on twitter: @SvenMessing. Research Profiles: Researchgate, ORCID, Linked-In
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