In recent months, two high level reports that Active Children Coalition founding members contributed to have shed light on the challenges and opportunities in addressing children’s physical inactivity.
The OECD’s report How Can OECD Countries Empower Children to Be More Physically Active? recognises the crisis in children’s physical activity as a structural and environmental problem rather than one deriving from a simple lack of awareness. OECD policy makers have identified inadequate physical activity as the most pressing policy challenge affecting children and the report addresses the issue through a social ecological model (SEM), recognising that children’s activity levels are shaped by the interaction of individual, interpersonal, organisational, community, and policy environments.
At an individual level, children’s capabilities, motivation, and stage of development are key factors influencing physical activity – children with strong fundamental motor skills such as running, jumping, balancing, and throwing, are more likely to engage in active play and sports, which in turn further develops these skills. At the interpersonal level, families, peers, and social norms play a fundamental role. Peer disapproval and gender stereotyping can discourage participation, particularly for girls.
At the community level, access, affordability, and design of spaces where children live, learn and play shape opportunities. Practical constraints such as time pressures, costs, and location of facilities and transport options remain critical barriers. Particularly, competitive sport structures can unintentionally exclude some children; therefore, the report suggests reframing physical activity beyond competitive sport toward more inclusive, social, and well-being-oriented activities.
The report concludes with policy lessons for sustainable, cross-government approaches to increase activity and embedding movement in children’s lives, making being active not an exception but a normal and supported part of childhood.
Salomé Aubert, from Active Children Coalition founding member Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, was one of the expert contributors and an external reviewer for this report.
In line with the underlying principles of the Active Children Coalition, the OECD report calls for cross-sector solutions, and challenges communities and policymakers to look beyond organised sport and consider how children move (or do not move) throughout the entire day, underlining the need for integrated, daily lifestyle approaches.
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The World Economic Forum’s Sports for People and Planet report, meanwhile, highlights the global sports economy as a major economic and social driver. It currently generates about USD$2.3 trillion in annual global revenues and is projected to reach USD$8.8 trillion by 2050. But this growth faces mounting risks from physical inactivity and environmental challenges.
Despite the high visibility of professional and elite sport, grassroots and participatory sport generates four times more revenue – around USD$0.56 trillion (28%) of the sports economy – compared to just USD$0.14 trillion (7%) from elite sport. This underscores the foundational economic role of everyday physical activity and positions grassroots sport as a critical driver of sustainable growth across the sector.
Active Children Coalition founding member, the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry contributed to the initial scope of the report and reviews of draft versions. The Active Children Coalition acknowledges these findings as a useful tool for mobilising investment, while noting that the rationale for and benefits of increasing children’s physical activity levels must be considered far beyond the purely economic dimension.
Chapters
In recent months, two high level reports that Active Children Coalition founding members contributed to have shed light on the challenges and opportunities in addressing children’s physical inactivity.
The OECD’s report How Can OECD Countries Empower Children to Be More Physically Active? recognises the crisis in children’s physical activity as a structural and environmental problem rather than one deriving from a simple lack of awareness. OECD policy makers have identified inadequate physical activity as the most pressing policy challenge affecting children and the report addresses the issue through a social ecological model (SEM), recognising that children’s activity levels are shaped by the interaction of individual, interpersonal, organisational, community, and policy environments.
At an individual level, children’s capabilities, motivation, and stage of development are key factors influencing physical activity – children with strong fundamental motor skills such as running, jumping, balancing, and throwing, are more likely to engage in active play and sports, which in turn further develops these skills. At the interpersonal level, families, peers, and social norms play a fundamental role. Peer disapproval and gender stereotyping can discourage participation, particularly for girls.
At the community level, access, affordability, and design of spaces where children live, learn and play shape opportunities. Practical constraints such as time pressures, costs, and location of facilities and transport options remain critical barriers. Particularly, competitive sport structures can unintentionally exclude some children; therefore, the report suggests reframing physical activity beyond competitive sport toward more inclusive, social, and well-being-oriented activities.
The report concludes with policy lessons for sustainable, cross-government approaches to increase activity and embedding movement in children’s lives, making being active not an exception but a normal and supported part of childhood.
Salomé Aubert, from Active Children Coalition founding member Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, was one of the expert contributors and an external reviewer for this report.
In line with the underlying principles of the Active Children Coalition, the OECD report calls for cross-sector solutions, and challenges communities and policymakers to look beyond organised sport and consider how children move (or do not move) throughout the entire day, underlining the need for integrated, daily lifestyle approaches.
———
The World Economic Forum’s Sports for People and Planet report, meanwhile, highlights the global sports economy as a major economic and social driver. It currently generates about USD$2.3 trillion in annual global revenues and is projected to reach USD$8.8 trillion by 2050. But this growth faces mounting risks from physical inactivity and environmental challenges.
Despite the high visibility of professional and elite sport, grassroots and participatory sport generates four times more revenue – around USD$0.56 trillion (28%) of the sports economy – compared to just USD$0.14 trillion (7%) from elite sport. This underscores the foundational economic role of everyday physical activity and positions grassroots sport as a critical driver of sustainable growth across the sector.
Active Children Coalition founding member, the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry contributed to the initial scope of the report and reviews of draft versions. The Active Children Coalition acknowledges these findings as a useful tool for mobilising investment, while noting that the rationale for and benefits of increasing children’s physical activity levels must be considered far beyond the purely economic dimension.