A critical review of national physical activity policies relating to children and young people in England

作者：Anna E Chalkley, Karen E Milton · 发表于：Journal of sport and health science/Journal of Sport and Health Science · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1016/j.jshs.2020.09.010 · 被引用次数：32 · 研究领域：Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet、Physical Activity and Health、Physical Education and Pedagogy

BACKGROUND: There has been an increasing focus on the importance of national policy to address population levels of physical inactivity. It has been suggested that the 4 cornerstones of policy comprise (1) national guidelines on physical activity (PA), (2) setting population goals and targets, (3) surveillance or health-monitoring systems, and (4) public education. The current study aimed to review the policy actions that have addressed each of these elements for children and youth in England and to identify areas of progress and remaining challenges. METHODS: A literature search was undertaken to identify past and present documents relevant to PA policy for children and youth in England. Each document was analyzed to identify content relevant to the 4 cornerstones of policy. RESULTS: Physical activity guidelines (Cornerstone 1) for children and youth have been in place since 1998 and reviewed periodically. Physical activity targets (Cornerstone 2) have focussed on the provision of opportunities for PA, mainly through physical education in schools rather than in relation to the proportion of children meeting recommended PA levels. There has been much surveillance (Cornerstone 3) of children's PA, but this has been undertaken infrequently over time and with varying inclusions of differing domains of activity. There has been only 1 campaign (Cornerstone 4) that targeted children and their intermediaries, Change4Life, which was an obesity campaign focussing on dietary behavior i...