Physical activity and health in Chinese children and adolescents: expert consensus statement (2020)

Abstract

China is experiencing significant public health challenges related to social and demographic transitions and lifestyle transformations following unprecedented economic reforms four decades ago. Of particular public health concern is the fourfold increase in overweight and obesity rates in the nation’s youth population, coupled with the low prevalence of adolescents meeting recommended levels of physical activity. Improving the overall health of China’s more than 170 million children and adolescents has become a national priority. However, advancing nationwide health initiatives and physical activity promotion in this population has been hampered by the lack of a population-specific and culturally relevant consensus on recommendations for achieving these ends. To address this deficiency and inform policies to achieve Healthy China 2030 goals, a panel of Chinese experts, complemented by international professionals, developed this consensus statement. The consensus was achieved through an iterative process that began with a literature search from electronic databases; in-depth reviews, conducted by a steering committee, of the resulting articles; and panel group evaluations and discussions in the form of email correspondence, conference calls and written communications. Ultimately, the panel agreed on 10 major themes with strong scientific evidence that, in children and adolescents aged 6–17, participating in moderate to vigorous physical activities led to multiple positive health outcomes. Our consensus statement also (1) highlights major challenges in promoting physical activity, (2) identifies future research that addresses current knowledge gaps, and (3) provides recommendations for teachers, education experts, parents and policymakers for promoting physical activity among Chinese school-aged children and adolescents. This consensus statement aligns with international efforts to develop global physical activity guidelines to promote physical activity and health and prevent lifestyle-related diseases in children and adolescents. More importantly, it provides a foundation for developing culturally appropriate and effective physical activity interventions, health promotion strategies and policy initiatives to improve the health of Chinese children and adolescents.

Physical Fitness and Motor Competence in Chinese and German Elementary School Children in Relation to Different Physical Activity Settings

“…Health-related physical education curricula, with effective teacher training and support, have the potential to provide children with much more MVPA than they have received in typical physical education lessons [ 103 , 104 ]. In summary, the present findings on the effects of school sport in Germany and China have implications for physical education practice, in the sense that they support the call by Chen et al [ 60 ] for more intense and versatile school sport in China focusing explicitly on aerobic and muscle-strengthening MVPA, as well as they confirm Granacher et al [ 105 ], who promote strength and balance training during physical education lessons also in Germany. Therefore, teachers and coaches in both nations are encouraged to use specific PF- and MC-directed training programs [ 106 ], as well as different sport disciplines in combination with a moderate-to-vigorous training intensity level, to support the PF and MC of scholars with different expertise levels.…”

“…The mediation models provided insights into the various settings that enhance MVPA as a determinant of PF and MC in young children. In all five settings, an increase in MVPA can be beneficial for PF and MC, as well as for general health status [ 60 ]. It is well known from the literature that parents’ attitudes and parental support play an important role in MVPA, PF, and MC of children of elementary school age [ 99 ], although the positive influence of the mother and father is different in nature [ 100 ].…”

“…As could be expected, the lower overall MVPA in China, with less than 22% of the children meeting the WHO recommendations of 60 min/d [ 58 ], is associated with a low level of PF with only 3 out of 10 Chinese scholars achieving an excellent or good result in the national fitness standards [ 59 ]. Facing these research findings, a recent consensus statement of Chinese and international experts [ 60 ] called for governmental policies that tackle the deficits of Chinese children in MVPA and PF especially through a better availability of local community-based sport clubs to increase organized sport activities, as well as by improving the built environment (neighborhood design, parks and recreational facilities, walkable sideways, and bike lanes) as important resources for outdoor play activities.…”

The Association Between Living Environmental Factors and Adolescents’ Body Weight

“…27 Additional exercise is necessary to nally make up the time of daily active exercise to catch up with the recommended levels of physical activities, which is currently not met in school-aged adolescents by large. 28 It was worthy to notice that the Changzhou subway project was conducted from April 2015, and line 1 was nished in Sep 2019, the completion of line 2 will be at the beginning of 2021. In the former investments, researchers indicated the subway construction process was the "predawn darkness" for tra c system, and the long period of metro construction would bring numerous environmental and social issues for this city.…”

Projeto de extensão natação na escola: implicações do período pandêmico / School swimming extension project: implications of the pandemic period

“…Ao praticar a natação, o aluno pode compreender que nadar proporciona algo muito além do prazer e lazer, como, por exemplo, a segurança no ambiente e a descoberta de novas habilidades, assim como a melhora na qualidade de vida. Nesse sentido, as condições de aprendizagem acabam direcionando o aluno para percepções corporais diferentes e significativas (CHEN et al, 2020;PHARR et al, 2018) de si e do mundo que a cerca.…”