Ramírez Varela, AndreaHallal, Pedro CMejía Grueso, JulianaPedišić, ŽeljkoSalvo, DeborahNguyen, AnitaKlepac, BojanaBauman, AdrianSiefken, KatjaHinckson, EricaOyeyemi, Adewale LRichards, JustinSalih Khidir, Elena DanielaInoue, ShigeruAmagasa, ShihoJauregui, Alejandrada Silva, Marcelo CozzensaLee, I-MinDing, MelodyKohl, Harold WEkelund, UlfHeath, Gregory WPowell, Kenneth EFoster, CharlieMemon, Aamir RaoofDoumbia, AbdoulayeRather, Abdul RoofRazzaque, AbdurDiouf, AdamaHino, Adriano AkiraDamasceno, AlbertinoAbebe, Alem DeksisaFlorindo, Alex AntonioMannocci, AliceAringazina, AltynJuričan, Andrea BackovićPoffet, AndreaDecelis, AndrewCarlin, AngelaEnescu, AngelicaOchoa Avilés, Angélica MaríaKontsevaya, AnnaSomhegyi, AnnamariaVuillemin, AnneEl Hamdouchi, AsmaaThéodore, Asse AmangouaMasanovic, BojanLynch, Brigid MMedina, CatalinaDel Campo, CeciliaAbdeta, ChalchisaMoreways, ChangaRanasinghe, ChathurangaHowitt, ChristinaCameron, ChristineJurakić, DanijelMartinez-Gomez, DavidTladi, DawnDiro, Debrework TesfayeAdlakha, DeeptiMitić, DušanBjelica, DuškoBiernat, ElżbietaChisati, Enock MLambert, Estelle VictoriaCerin, EsterLee, Eun-YoungRiso, Eva-MariaCañete Villalba, FeliciaAssah, FelixLovrić, FranjoAraya-Vargas, Gerardo ALa Torre, GiuseppeCruz, Gloria Isabel NiñoBaltaci, GulAl Sabbah, HaleamaNalecz, HannaNashandi, Hilde LiisaPark, HyuntaeRevuelta-Sánchez, InésNusurupia, Jackline JemaZamora, Jaime LeppeKopcakova, JaroslavaBrazo-Sayavera, JavierOppert, Jean-MichelNie, JinleiSpence, John CBradley, John StewartMota, JorgeMitáš, JosefChen, JunshiHylton, Kamilah SFromel, KarelMilton, KarenBorodulin, KatjaMoustapha, Keita AmadouMartinez-Folgar, KevinNasreddine, LaraChristiansen, Lars BreumMalisoux, LaurentMalete, LeapetsweGrepo-Jalao, Lorelie CMonteiro, Luciana ZaranzaAl Subhi, Lyutha KDakskobler, MajaAlnaji, MajedGarro, Margarita ClaramuntHagströmer, MariaMurphy, Marie HMclaughlin, MatthewRivera-Morales, MercedesScheinowitz, MickeyShkodra, MimozaPiątkowska, MonikaChaudhury, MoushumiAlrashdi, Naif ZiyadMutrie, NanetteMurphy, NiamhAhmad, Norhayati HajiObeidat, Nour AGómez, Nubia Yaneth RuizLiangruenrom, NucharaponArnesto, Oscar DíazFlores-Flores, OscarIncarbone, OscarChimeddamba, OyunBovet, PascalMagalhães, PedroJousilahti, PekkaKatewongsa, PiyawatGómez, Rafael Alexander LeandroShihab, Rawan AwniOcansey, ReginaldVeress, RékaMarine, RichardCarrizales-Ramos, RolandoSaeed, Saad YounisEl-Ashker, SaidGreen, SamuelKasoma, SandraBeretervide, SantiagoBaldew, Se-SergioNichols, SelbyKhoo, SelinaHosseini, Seyed AliGoenka, ShifalikaGholamalishahi, ShimaKosen, SoewartaCompernolle, SofieEnescu, Stefan PaulPopovic, StevoPaudel, SusanAndrade, SusanaTitze, SylviaDavidson, TamuDusingizimana, TheogeneDorner, Thomas EKolbe-Alexander, Tracy LHuong, Tran ThanhSychareun, VanphanomJarevska-Simovska, VeraPuloka, Viliami KulikefuOnywera, VincentWendel-Vos, WandaDionyssiotis, YannisPratt, Michael2023-07-062023-07-062022-12-19Journal of Physical Activity and Health, ISSN: 1543-3080 (Print); 1543-5474 (Online), Human Kinetics, 20(2), 112-128. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2022-04641543-30801543-5474http://hdl.handle.net/10292/16383BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) surveillance, policy, and research efforts need to be periodically appraised to gain insight into national and global capacities for PA promotion. The aim of this paper was to assess the status and trends in PA surveillance, policy, and research in 164 countries. METHODS: We used data from the Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!) 2015 and 2020 surveys. Comprehensive searches were performed for each country to determine the level of development of their PA surveillance, policy, and research, and the findings were verified by the GoPA! Country Contacts. Trends were analyzed based on the data available for both survey years. RESULTS: The global 5-year progress in all 3 indicators was modest, with most countries either improving or staying at the same level. PA surveillance, policy, and research improved or remained at a high level in 48.1%, 40.6%, and 42.1% of the countries, respectively. PA surveillance, policy, and research scores decreased or remained at a low level in 8.3%, 15.8%, and 28.6% of the countries, respectively. The highest capacity for PA promotion was found in Europe, the lowest in Africa and low- and lower-middle-income countries. Although a large percentage of the world's population benefit from at least some PA policy, surveillance, and research efforts in their countries, 49.6 million people are without PA surveillance, 629.4 million people are without PA policy, and 108.7 million live in countries without any PA research output. A total of 6.3 billion people or 88.2% of the world's population live in countries where PA promotion capacity should be significantly improved. CONCLUSION: Despite PA is essential for health, there are large inequalities between countries and world regions in their capacity to promote PA. Coordinated efforts are needed to reduce the inequalities and improve the global capacity for PA promotion.https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/epidemiologyguidelines and recommendationshealth promotionmeasurementpublic health practiceepidemiologyguidelines and recommendationshealth promotionmeasurementpublic health practice4206 Public Health42 Health SciencesPatient SafetyBehavioral and Social SciencePreventionBasic Behavioral and Social Science3 Prevention of disease and conditions, and promotion of well-being2 Aetiology2.4 Surveillance and distribution3.1 Primary prevention interventions to modify behaviours or promote wellbeing10 Reduced Inequalities1106 Human Movement and Sports Sciences1117 Public Health and Health Services1302 Curriculum and PedagogyPublic Health4201 Allied health and rehabilitation science4206 Public health4207 Sports science and exerciseHumansExerciseLegal EpidemiologyPolicySurveys and QuestionnairesGlobal HealthHumansExercisePolicyGlobal HealthSurveys and QuestionnairesLegal EpidemiologyHumansExerciseLegal EpidemiologyPolicySurveys and QuestionnairesGlobal HealthJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1123/jpah.2022-0464