Results From Kenya’s 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

Abstract

Background: Kenya's 2016 report card aimed to highlight the health and well-being of Kenyan children and youth using the best available evidence on the physical activity of Kenyan children and youth. The report pointed at areas where Kenya was succeeding and areas where more action is required. Methods: Inclusive analyses of available data sources on the core indicators related to physical activity and body weights of Kenyan children and youth (5 to 17 years) were conducted. These were assigned grades based on a set of specific criteria. Results: Results show that Active Play, Active Transportation, Overweight and Obesity, and Sedentary Behavior were favorable with a grade of B. Overall Physical Activity, Organized Sport Participation, and School (infrastructure, policies, and programs) each received a grade of C, while Family and Peers, Government and Nongovernment organizations, as well as the Community and the Built Environment were assigned grade D. Conclusions: Over 72% of Kenyan children and youth use active transportation to and from school and in their daily lives. Although majority of the children and youth have normal body weight, there is need to ensure that they meet and maintain the physical activity levels recommended by the World Health Organization. More needs to be done especially in relation to the governmental and nongovernmental organizations, organized sports participation, as well as involvement of family and peers in promoting healthy active lifestyles among Kenyan children and youth. More representative data for all indicators are required in Kenya.

Physical Activity, Sleep, and BMI Percentile in Rural and Urban Ugandan Youth

“…More than 90% of children reported participating in at least 1 chore and at least 1 sport over the past week. Almost 98% of children in this sample walked to school 5 days per week, which is higher than the 45.7%, 36 and 72% 37 of youth using active transport daily previously reported in Kenya. Active transport and physical activity measures have rarely been assessed in this population and vary widely by study location and design, and it is thus unclear if these results are typical.…”

Global Matrix 2.0: Report Card Grades on the Physical Activity of Children and Youth Comparing 38 Countries

“…51 The low grades in most countries are consistent with earlier reports. 7,15,70 Grades were generally higher in low-middle income countries (LMIC; Brazil, 26 India, 37 Kenya, 40 Mexico, 42 Mozambique, 43 Nigeria, 46 South Africa, 52 Zimbabwe 61 ), but this relationship was not uniform as Slovenia 51 and New Zealand 45 also reported high grades and no significant correlation between HDI and overall behavior grades was observed (Table 5).…”

“…There is considerable global variation in grades for sedentary behaviors, although the majority of countries have very poor or failing grades. Slovenia, 51 Kenya, 40 and Zimbabwe 61 had grades in the B range while 24 countries had grades of D or F. All continents had an average of a D grade. These grades identify a serious and widespread problem of excess screen viewing (>2 hours per day of recreational screen time 105,106 ).…”

“…Active Transportation grades showed a wide distribution with the Netherlands reporting an A, 44 Zimbabwe an A-, 61 7 countries a B, 19 countries a C, 5 countries a D, 2 countries (United Arab Emirates, 56 United States 57 ) an F, and 3 countries an INC. While active transportation may be a necessity for some children in countries such as Zimbabwe, 61 Nigeria, 46 and Kenya, 40 in other countries with high grades it represents a choice that may be driven more by supportive policies and/or traditional cultural norms (eg, Denmark, 31 Finland, 34 the Netherlands 44 ). Multicountry studies have shown similar proportions of active transportation involvement in significantly differing contexts.…”

The prevalence of Active Play in Brazilian children and adolescents: a systematic review

“…Defined as a form of gross motor or total body movement in which young children exert energy in a freely chosen, fun, and unstructured manner 11 . Active Play has the potential to make a valuable contribution to children's overall physical activity 14 .…”