Introduction to a supplemental issue (available through Open Access) of the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness – Insufficient physical activity is a leading risk factor for global health… [it] increases the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and several cancers, while also shortening life expectancy. Globally, physical inactivity is estimated to cost INT$54 billion per year in direct health care, with an additional INT$14 billion attributable to lost productivity.2 These data highlight the importance of the global monitoring and surveillance of physical activity. … On the 20th of May 2014, at the Global Summit on the Physical Activity of Children in Toronto, Canada, 15 country Report Cards were compared in the first Global Matrix of grades…. the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance was formed to provide a portal and mechanism where interested countries could register and be mentored through the Report Card process to facilitate future global matrices.6 Released on the 16th of November 2016, at the International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Bangkok, Thailand, the Global Matrix 2.0 consolidated the findings from 38 country Report Cards …On the 27th of November 2018, the Global Matrix 3.0 was released at the Movement to Move: Global Insights to Get our Kids Moving event in Adelaide, Australia. Forty nine countries and regions, representing all inhabited continents and all income levels participated, including: Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, England, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Guernsey Channel Islands, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Jersey, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Scotland, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Wales, and Zimbabwe. This supplemental issue of the Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness contains Report Card summary papers for five Asian countries and regions — China,7 Chinese Taipei (Taiwan),8 Hong Kong,9 Japan,10 and South Korea.11 …Each paper describes the process used to develop each Report Card, the data sources, partners, final grades for each indicator (overall physical activity; organized sport and physical activity; active play; active transportation; sedentary behaviors; family and peers; school; community and environment; government; and physical fitness), and a figure of the Report Card cover. …
Special issue: Global Matrix 3.0 ó An introduction to the report cards on the physical activity of children and youth from five Asian countries and regions
