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

Abstract

Background:The 2016 Swedish Report Card on Physical Activity (PA) for Children and Youth is a unique compilation of the existing physical and health related data in Sweden. The aim of this article is to summarize the procedure and results from the report card.Methods:Nationally representative surveys and individual studies published between 2005–2015 were included. Eleven PA and health indicators were graded using the Active Healthy Kids Canada grading system. Grades were assigned based on the percentage of children/youth meeting a defined benchmark (A: 81% to 100%, B: 61% to 80%, C: 41% to 60%, D: 21% to 40%, F: 0% to 20%, or incomplete (INC).Results:The assigned grades were Overall Physical Activity, D; Organized Sport Participation, B+; Active Play, INC; Active Transportation, C+; Sedentary Behaviors, C; Family and Peers, INC; School, C+; Community and the Built Environment, B; Government Strategies and Investments, B; Diet, C-; and Obesity, D.Conclusions:The included data provides some support that overall PA is too low and sedentary behavior is too high for almost all age groups in Sweden, even with the many national policies as well as an environment that is favorable to the promotion of PA.

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

“…Sweden's 2018 Report Card on physical activity for children and youth builds on the findings from Sweden's 2016 Report Card. 5 The results are summarized in Table 1 and the 2018 Swedish Report Card's front cover is displayed in Figure 1.…”

Youth Well-Being Contextualized: Perceptions of Swedish Fathers

“…Moreover, although recent figures indicate that overall physical activity is declining and sedentary behavior is increasing among youth in Sweden (Nyström et al 2016), the theme physical well-being might reveal a combination of normative expectations on youth to be active and healthy. Reports indicate that youth are relatively more physically active in sport associations and clubs if they live with both of their primary care-takers (68%), belong to families with higher education (72%), or have a Swedish background (67%) compared to youth who live with single parents (51%), belong to households with only secondary education (55%), and have a foreign background (53%; Statistics Sweden 2017b).…”

Associations of participation in organized sports and physical activity in preschool children: a cross-sectional study

“…Given the low and decreasing levels of PA among young children (5,40), it is important to nd effective strategies to increase young children's PA. Meta-analyses data of trials examining the effectiveness of interventions to increase PA in children show minor treatment effects; adding up to approximately 4 minutes of additional walking or running per day (41). Although the results from this cross-sectional study cannot be compared to results from that of interventions, the 6.0 minutes (10%) more MVPA associated with participation in organized sports is a practically signi cant difference which may warrant further intervention studies of organized sports in preschool children.…”