Ireland North and South Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents

2022 Ireland North and South Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents

Produced as part of the
Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA)

About the Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents

The Ireland North and South Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents is produced as part of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA).

Established in 2014, this global alliance brings researchers, health professionals and other stakeholders together to advance physical activity in children and young people, with a view to creating a world of active healthy kids.

Over the past eight years, participating countries, including Ireland and Northern Ireland, have evaluated available data to monitor physical activity levels among children and teenagers to produce a Report Card, with grades across a range of indicators.

The Report Cards aim to provoke change in priorities, practices and funding in relation children’s physical activity.

Global update

The Global Matrix 4.0 report by the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA) follows the recent publication of the Ireland North and South Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents, which found that not all children and teens in Ireland and Northern Ireland had an equal chance to be active. Read more here.

The 2022 Ireland North and South Report Card tracks changes in physical activity levels in children and teenagers in Ireland and Northern Ireland since previous reports in 2014 and 2016.

For the first time, the 2022 Report Card includes an indicator on ‘Physical Fitness’ and also examines physical activity levels among children and adolescents with disabilities.

Other indicators include Overall Physical Activity, Organised Sport Participation, Active Play, Active Transportation, Sedentary Behaviour, Family and Peers, School, Physical Education, Community and the Built Environment, and Government.

Across the island of Ireland, it is recommended that children and adolescents, aged 6-17 years, attain on average 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity across the week.

The Report Card serves as a tool for practitioners and policy makers to identify key needs and gaps and to advocate for and allocate funds to children’s physical activity promotion initiatives.

Who is involved in the 2022 Report Card?

The 2022 Ireland North and South Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents was produced by a Research Working Group, chaired by Dr Angela Carlin at Ulster University.

The work was supported by grants from the Public Health Agency (Northern Ireland), Department of Health (Ireland) and Healthy Ireland, Sport Northern Ireland, Sport Ireland, and the Institute of Public Health.