An inventory of national surveillance systems assessing physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sport participation of adults in the European Union

Abstract

Background Physical inactivity has been recognised as a global public health problem that requires concerted action. This calls for systematic physical activity (PA) surveillance as a mechanism for assessing the problem and evaluating the effectiveness of related policies. Because countries tend to design their policy measures based on national surveillance data, here we present an inventory of existing national surveillance systems on PA, sedentary behaviour (SB) and sport participation (SP) among adult population in all European Union (EU) Member States. Methods As a part of the European Physical Activity and Sports Monitoring System (EUPASMOS) project, a questionnaire was constructed in the form of an on-line survey to collect detailed information on existing national surveillance systems on either PA, SB, or SP. National HEPA focal points from all 27 EU Member States were invited to answer the on-line questionnaire and data collection took part in the period May 2018–September 2019. Results National monitoring of PA or SB or SP for adults has been established in 16/27 EU Member States, that host 33 different PA/SB/SP monitoring systems. Apart from 3 countries that are using accelerometers (Finland, Ireland and Portugal), surveillance is typically based on questionnaires. In most Member States these questionnaires have not been validated in the particular language and cultural setting. Next, specific domains and dimensions of PA, SB and SP assessed vary a lot across countries. Only 3 countries (the Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia) are monitoring all three behaviours while covering most of the domains and dimensions of PA/SB/SP. Lastly, as half of the existing surveillance systems set an upper age limit, in 9/16 countries that are monitoring PA/SB/SP, no data for people older than 80 years are available. Conclusions Systematic surveillance of PA is lacking among 11/27 EU countries, with even few monitoring SB and SP. Besides, existing surveillance systems typically fail to assess all dimensions and domains of PA/SB/SP with only three countries maintaining monitoring systems that encompass all three behaviours while covering most of the domains and dimensions of PA/SB/SP. Hence, additional efforts in advocacy of systematic PA surveillance in the EU are called for.

Reliability and Validity of Slovenian Versions of IPAQ-SF, GPAQ, and EHIS-PAQ for Assessing Physical Activity and Sedentarism of Adults

“…PAQs have been a mainstay of measurement in most non-communicable diseases surveillance systems and epidemiological studies; however, their use is not unified. For example, a recent study of national surveillance systems for physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sport participation in the European Union [ 15 ] found that the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), with its long and short forms (IPAQ-LF and IPAQ-SF; [ 16 ]), prevails in the European Union (EU). Globally, the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) is used in more than 120 countries worldwide and is used in surveys conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) [ 17 , 18 ].…”

“…Still, wide variety of other PAQs is used in the EU. For example, the EU Eurobarometer uses the adapted IPAQ-SF [ 19 ], the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS) uses its own PAQ [ 20 ], Nordic countries use the Nordic Physical Activity Questionnaire [ 21 ], and many member states have their own national questionnaires [ 15 ].…”

The 2018 Revision of Italian Dietary Guidelines: Development Process, Novelties, Main Recommendations, and Policy Implications

“…Italy, according to official OECD statistics (9), is ranked 25th (out of the 37 OECD member states in 2017) for the prevalence of overweight and obesity, with a worryingly high prevalence in childhood (10,11). The poor adherence of the Italian population to the Mediterranean Diet, as well as the high level of sedentary lifestyle (12,13), could both be among the main factors to explain the rise in the prevalence of obesity in Italy (14). According to the data reported by DaSilva et al (15), further confirmed by Vilarnau et al (16), many countries in the Mediterranean basin were drifting away from the Mediterranean dietary pattern.…”

Physical Activity in Adults with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder: A Large Cross-Sectional Survey Exploring Patterns, Preferences, Barriers, and Motivating Factors

“…First, all the measures of this study were self-reported. Although self-reports have been widely used for gaining insight into the physical activity levels of populations [51], they have limited validity [52] and issues of recall and response bias (e.g., social desirability, inaccurate memory) [53]. Second, despite efforts to ensure that the cohort was as representative as possible of people with SMI in the UK, it may be that there are differences between the cohort participants and the general SMI population.…”