Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance Global Matrix 4.0-A Resource for Physical Activity Researchers.
Mark S Tremblay, Joel D Barnes, Iryna Demchenko, Silvia A Gonzalez, Javier Brazo-Sayavera, Jakub Kalinowski, Peter T Katzmarzyk, Taru Manyanga, John J Reilly, Stephen Heung Sang Wong, Salomé Aubert
Author Information
Mark S Tremblay: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON,Canada. ORCID
Joel D Barnes: Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, Ottawa, ON,Canada. ORCID
Iryna Demchenko: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON,Canada. ORCID
Silvia A Gonzalez: School of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota,Colombia. ORCID
Javier Brazo-Sayavera: Department of Sports and Computer Science, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville,Spain. ORCID
Jakub Kalinowski: V4SPORT Foundation, Wroclaw,Poland.
Peter T Katzmarzyk: Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA,USA. ORCID
Taru Manyanga: Division of Medical Sciences, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC,Canada. ORCID
John J Reilly: Physical Activity for Health Group, School of Psychological Sciences and Health, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow,Scotland. ORCID
Stephen Heung Sang Wong: Department of Sports Science and Physical Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin,Hong Kong. ORCID
Salomé Aubert: Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance, Ottawa, ON,Canada. ORCID
BACKGROUND: This brief report provides an overview of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA); an introduction to the Global Matrix 4.0; an explanation of the value and opportunities that the AHKGA efforts and assets provide to the physical activity research, policy, practice, and advocacy community; an outline of the series of papers related to the Global Matrix 4.0 in this issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health; and an invitation for future involvement. METHODS: The AHKGA was formed to help power the global movement to get kids moving. In 2019-2021, we recruited countries to participate in the Global Matrix 4.0, a worldwide initiative to assess, compare, and contrast the physical activity of children and adolescents. RESULTS: A total of 57 countries/jurisdictions (hereafter referred to as countries for simplicity) were recruited. The current activities of the AHKGA are summarized. The overall findings of the Global Matrix 4.0 are presented in a series of papers in this issue of the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. CONCLUSIONS: The Global Matrix 4.0 and other assets of the AHKGA are publicly available, and physical activity researchers, practitioners, policy makers, and advocates are encouraged to exploit these resources to further their efforts.
