Towards better evidence-informed global action: lessons learnt from the Lancet series and recent developments in physical activity and public health

Abstract

In the past few decades, the field of physical activity has grown and evolved in scope, depth, visibility and impact around the world. Global progress has been observed in research and practice in physical activity regarding surveillance, health outcomes, correlates/determinants, interventions, translation and policy. The 2012 and 2016 Lancet series on physical activity provide some of the most comprehensive global analysis on various topics within physical activity. Based on the Lancet series and other key developments in the field, literature searches, and expert group meetings and consultation, we provide a global summary on the progress of, gaps in and future directions for physical activity research in the following areas: (1) surveillance and trends, (2) correlates and determinants, (3) health outcomes and (4) interventions, programmes and policies. Besides lessons learnt within each specific area, several recommendations are shared across areas of research, including improvement in measurement, applying a global perspective with a growing emphasis on low-income and middle-income countries, improving inclusiveness and equity in research, making translation an integral part of research for real-world impact, taking an ‘upstream’ public health approach, and working across disciplines and sectors to co-design research and co-create solutions. We have summarised lessons learnt and recommendations for future research as ‘roadmaps’ in progress to encourage moving the field of physical activity towards achieving population-level impact globally.

Adhering to the 2017 Dutch Physical Activity Guidelines: A Trend over Time 2001–2018

“…Compared to the former Dutch physical activity guidelines, the second component addressing bone and muscle strengthening activities is newly added [12]. To evaluate goals on adherence to the physical activity guidelines, monitoring and analysing trends over time are necessary [13][14][15].…”

Can we walk away from cardiovascular disease risk or do we have to ‘huff and puff’? A cross-sectional compositional accelerometer data analysis among adults and older adults in the Copenhagen City Heart Study

“…Our results highlight the potential to prevent CVD among older adults by replacing sedentary behaviour with walking, and among both adults and older adults by replacing sedentary behaviour with HIPA. Since individual behavioural change is challenging (61), a systems-based approach to increase physical activity is increasingly recognised (7,62). This can involve multi-disciplinary collaborations between researchers and stakeholders where research is designed and solutions created across different societal 'systems' (e.g., environment, policy-making and regulation, work-places, communities, health-care, education, etc.)…”

Sport Promotion through Sport Mega-Events. An Analysis for Types of Olympic Sports in London 2012

“…Recent evidence has shown that people do not undertake enough PA and that PA levels are falling in many countries [ 1 ]. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) argues that inactivity rates have been rising from 23% in 2010 to 27.5% in 2016 [ 2 ] with at least $67.5 billion of economic burden annually [ 3 ]. In Europe, the proportion of those who say they never exercise or play sport has increased between 2009 and 2017 to 46% [ 4 ] leading to one million premature deaths and corresponding to 10.4% of all deaths in Europe [ 2 ].…”