Results from Lithuania’s 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

Abstract

The Global Matrix 3.0 “Report Card” assessment of physical activity was developed to achieve a better understanding of the global variability in child and youth physical activity. Lithuania joined the Global Matrix 3.0. The aim of this article is to summarize the results of the first Lithuanian Report Card, which included 10 indicators, as representative of individual behaviors, sources, and settings of influence indicators, and a health-related characteristic. The grades for each indicator were based on the best available Lithuanian data. The findings showed poor Overall Physical Activity, Active Transportation (C−), and Family and Peers (D). Sedentary behavior was graded C−, and Organized Sport Participation, Community and Environment, and Government were graded C. Physical Fitness and School indicators received the highest grade (C+). The first Lithuanian Report Card on Physical Activity of Children and Youth shows that Lithuanian children and youth have less than satisfactory levels of organized physical activity, active transportation to and from school, community and built environments, and government strategies and investments. The low levels of support from family and peers require more attention from health promoters. There is a gap in the evidence about active play that should be addressed by researchers and policy makers.

The 2018 National Report on Children’s and Adolescents’ Physical Activity and Physical Fitness for Montenegro

“…The facts from this part of the study indicated that only one-quarter of subjects were active in the sports clubs and that almost half of the parents think that the children are not safe when they are playing in the neighbourhood. That is in parallel with results for the same indicators in Chile ( 28 ), but rather worse than the results in Lithuania and Germany ( 14 , 27 ).…”

“…It is interesting to note that there is a general opinion that cities in Montenegro do not have enough bikeways and that traffic is not safe enough for cyclists ( 13 ). The low use of walking or bicycling could be related to the lack of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, as well as the actual or perceived dangers of walking and cycling ( 14 ). Of course, this does not necessarily mean that the number of children walking or cycling to school is related to the development level of a country ( 14 ).…”

“…The low use of walking or bicycling could be related to the lack of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, as well as the actual or perceived dangers of walking and cycling ( 14 ). Of course, this does not necessarily mean that the number of children walking or cycling to school is related to the development level of a country ( 14 ). The active transportation indicator was graded without reliable information (grade 1) and should be explored in future studies.…”

Research- vs. government-driven physical activity policy monitoring: a systematic review across different levels of government

“…Less than half of all Report Card studies involved government o cials (44,7%). However, the level of government involvement differed: While government o cials were part of the Research Work Group in some countries (52,53), other countries involved representatives of their government in single stages of the process such as data collection (54) or grade assignment (55). The approaches applied in the Report Card studies were classi ed as being purely or mainly research-driven or -if government representatives were part of the respective Research Work Groups -as co-productive.…”

Health-Related Physical Activity Report Card Applications: An Initial Examination of Physical Education Teachers’ Views

“…In studies examining the knowledge levels of physical education teachers and teacher candidates on health-related physical fitness, it was stated that health-related physical fitness knowledge level was insufficient Santiago et al, 2016;Yılmaz, 2019). However, studies have also reported that students' health-related physical activity knowledge is insufficient or inaccurate and that children's levels of physical activity are alarmingly low in many countries around the world (Aubert et al, 2018;Grasten et al, 2014;Keating et al, 2009;Placek et al, 2001;Sukys et al, 2019;Tremblay et al, 2014;Wilkie et al, 2016). Yılmaz and Hünük (2018) observed in their study that students with a high level of health-related physical fitness knowledge did not acquire this knowledge from physical education teachers.…”