Systematic review of the community environment for physical activity in young people - an update to the Report Card Brazil

Abstract

– The aim of this study was to update a systematic review on the relationship between the environment and physical activity among Brazilian children and adolescents. The search for articles for this review was performed in the MEDLINE, LILACS / BIREME, and SCIELO databases. For this update, only articles published in 2018 and 2019 were used. Descriptors were defined in English and Portuguese. The Boolean used for the advanced search was used, with 3 main blocks: environment, physical activity, and population. Additional filters were used in accordance with the structure of a database. In all, 5 articles were included in this systematic review, 4 with a population-based sample and 1 with a school-based sample. Among the selected studies, 4 were carried out in the southern region of Brazil (2 in Santa Catarina; 1 in Rio Grande do Sul; 1 in Paraná) and the other article was carried out with a national sample. The research period ranged between 2012 and 2017, with a sample size ranging from 38 volunteers to 102,072 participants. The environmental indicators found were road safety, the existence and use of spaces for the practice of physical activity, the characteristics of the school, and the possibility of practice in the school environment. It was concluded that environmental indicators can enhance the practice of physical activity among young Brazilians, requiring public policies that develop environmental projects to promote physical activity.

Results from Brazil’s 2022 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents

“…Another interesting aspect is that only 3 out of 10 Brazilian children and adolescents spend up to two hours a day in front of a screen, and most of the findings use subjective measures [ 12 ]. For Active Play, six studies that were restricted to analyzing the fact of playing or not playing did not specify the time spent on activities [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ], which limits the proposition of strategies for guiding educators and stakeholders.…”

“…The protocol for this research was published on the Open Science Framework (OSF) platform ( , accessed on 1 March 2022). To gather the best evidence available in Brazil on each indicator, the following strategies were adopted: Fourteen systematic reviews were conducted [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], covering the following indicators: (1) Overall Physical Activity; (2) Organized Sport and Physical Activity; (3) Active Play; (4) Active Transportation; (5) Sedentary Behaviors; (6) Sleep; (7) Family and Peers; (8) Community and Environment; (9) Physical Fitness; (10) Obesity; (11) Poor Mental Health. In all systematic reviews, only studies with a sample of Brazilian children and adolescents published until December 2019—that is, before the COVID-19 pandemic—were considered eligible.…”

“…The target age for the samples investigated in the systematic reviews of this current report was adolescent children aged 5 to 19 years. All details about the samples can be consulted in previously published articles [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]; For the School indicator, an original study [ 26 ] was conducted with public data from the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (INEP); For the indicator related to Governmental Strategies and Investments, analyses were based on official information from the Brazilian Federal Government, in which official websites of the different Ministries in Brazil, national surveys of the federal government, and technical reports on the subject were researched. One paper about this indicator has been published [ 27 ].…”

“…The target age for the samples investigated in the systematic reviews of this current report was adolescent children aged 5 to 19 years. All details about the samples can be consulted in previously published articles [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ];…”

“…Furthermore, in all articles, the results are discussed in depth, and improvement strategies for each indicator are presented. The articles were published in peer-reviewed and open access journals [ 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ].…”