English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Zendy Plus

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Insights

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Zendy Tools

Zendy Open

In this special issue of the Journal of Sport and Health Science, a series of articles describe the results of the 2016 Physical Activity and Fitness in China—The Youth Study. The results show a relatively high prevalence of sedentary behaviors, unhealthy weight, lower fitness levels, and lower levels of engagement in physical exercise and fitness activities than anticipated. Of additional concern are differences by sex, residence locale, and grade levels. While disappointing, there is room for optimism that these metrics can be improved in coming years. Multiple health promotion efforts are underway in China designed to improve health systems and expand opportunities for all persons to become more physically active and physically fit. The activities reflect an ecological approach that involves multiple influences to improve physical exercise and physical fitness. As described by Sallis et al., the social environment, physical environment, and policies influence whether a person decides to engage in physical activity behaviors. These influences have the potential to bridge one’s intrapersonal characteristics (e.g., age, sex, and self-motivation) with their perceptions of physical activity environments (e.g., accessibility, safety), characteristics of the places where people can be active (e.g., schools, neighborhoods, homes), and policies that govern access to exercise areas (e.g., zoning codes, pubic recreation investment). Recent initiatives in China reflect a multilevel ecological approach to create active living communities that can improve physical exercise and physical fitness levels in children and adolescents. Guided by Healthy China 2030, an outcome of the 9th Global Conference on Health Promotion, strategic goals and key indicators have been developed to guide healthpromoting actions for Chinese populations. Central to the vision of promoting health through action, strategies call for environmental, community, educational, medical, and policy initiatives that invite all persons to be physically active and more physically fit. Four activities within the strategic goal, “to increase the proportion of Chinese children and adolescents who engage in targeted levels of physical exercise and who meet the fitness standards (as defined in the National Physical Fitness Standards)” are identified. The first activity is to improve physical fitness services. The plan proposes having a network of public sports facilities in villages, townships, and county levels where people can be active within a 15 min walk from their homes. Combined with the networks, it is proposed that defined sports grounds of no less than 2.3 m per capita be built for exercise and sports participation. The second activity proposes a nationwide fitness campaign. Within the facilities and space developed, cultural, geographic, ageand gender-appropriate exercise opportunities and sports events should be offered to all persons. These opportunities could be provided through adoption of existing favored exercises and the development of new activities that offer all persons, especially children and adolescents, an intentional space to engage in health-enhancing and fitness-promoting physical exercise and sports. The third activity is to promote physical exercise among priority groups. Teenage years show the greatest decline in exercise and sports participation, especially among girls. Various individual, social, and environmental factors can modify this decline. Opportunities to learn fundamental motor skills in pre-adolescence and sports skills in middle schools also can help to maintain lifelong physical activity habits. Assuring that students have access to daily physical education in schools and opportunities to develop sport skills in community settings are two ways students can learn new skills. This education, combined with easy access to networks of sports grounds with organized physical exercise and sports opportunities, achieving 60 min of daily physical exercise is possible. The fourth activity is to integrate sports exercises with medical care decision-makers and to strengthen non-medical health interventions. As people seek medical care for various reasons, health care providers can be aware of physical exercise and fitness guidelines to help each patient engage in Peer review under responsibility of Shanghai University of Sport. E-mail address: Barbara.Ainsworth@asu.edu

Step it up: Promoting physical activity in school-aged children and adolescents in China