Details

Purpose: The purpose of this symposium is to justify the need for, and introduce, the 14 country GAC-PAQ project, share early developmental findings and lessons, and invite further participation.

 Rationale: Physical activity (PA) is beneficially associated with many health indicators in children and adolescents. Globally, ~80% of school-going children and adolescents are insufficiently active, but current global surveillance initiatives largely exclude young children and those who do not attend school [common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)]. Global surveillance of PA in children and adolescents is also limited by the use of questionnaires that 1) were developed in high-income countries (HICs) with limited efforts to adapt them to the socio-cultural context of LMICs; 2) do not cover all domains of PA; and 3) do not properly capture active play, an important source of PA. Addressing these limitations would improve within- and between country comparisons and promote the cross-fertilization of solutions. The aim of the GAC-PAQ project is to comprehensively address these limitations.

Objectives:

1.       Provide a critique of inter-continental child and adolescent physical activity surveillance initiatives, identifying inconsistencies and research gaps.

2.       Introduce and explain the process to develop and assess the reliability and validity of the app-based Global Adolescent and Child Physical Activity Questionnaire (GAC-PAQ) for the global surveillance of physical activity in 5- to 17-year-olds.

3.       Present early formative and cognitive assessment data from 14 countries participating in the GAC-PAQ project and lessons learned.

4.       Invite further participation in the final testing of the GAC-PAQ.

Summary: This symposium will share for the first time the details of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research funded GAC-PAQ project, including the rationale for its development, preliminary findings and lessons learned.

Format:

Chair: Prof. Mark Tremblay (Canada): GAC-PAQ Project Symposium Overview (5 minutes)

Presenter 1: Dr. Salomé Aubert (France): The Current State of Global Surveillance of Physical Activity Among Children and Youth (15 minutes)

Presenter 2: Dr. Richard Larouche (Canada): The Global Adolescent and Child Physical Activity Questionnaire Development Project (20 minutes)

Presenter 3: Prof. Olga Sarmiento (Colombia) – Early Findings from the GAC-PAQ Project Across 14 Countries (15 minutes)

Discussant: Dr. Adewale Oyeyemi (Nigeria) – discussant (5 minutes + 15 minutes Q+A)

Interaction: The Discussant will summarize and comment on the content of the presentations and facilitate discussion among the Chair, presenters and the audience.

Speaker