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Introduction: The Mexican Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Adolescents aims to assess the prevalence of movement behaviors and opportunities to perform them. Methods: Data on 11 indicators were obtained from national health surveys, census data, government documents, websites, and published studies. Data were compared against established benchmarks, and a grade between 0 and 10 was assigned to each indicator. Results: For Daily Behaviors, we found 34.5% of Mexican children and adolescents meet Physical Activity recommendations (Grade 3), 48.4% participate in Organized Sports (Grade 5), 35-75.8% engage in Active Play outdoors (Grade 4), 54.1% use Active Transportation (Grade 5), 43.6% spend <2 h in Sedentary Behavior per day (Grade 4), and 65-91% meet Sleep recommendations (Grade 7). Girls have lower physical activity levels and sports participation than boys of the same age. For Physical Fitness, we found 56.2-61.8% of children and adolescents have an adequate body mass index for their age (Grade 6). For Sources of Influence, we found 65-67% of parents engage in physical activity or sports in a week (Grade 7), 32.2-53.3% of basic education schools have a physical education teacher (Grade 6), and 37% of neighborhoods in Mexico have sidewalks with trees (Grade 4). Regarding Government, several policies and programs aimed at improving children physical activity were launched but their impact and allocated implementation budget are unknown (Grade 6). Discussion: Mexican children and adolescents engage in low levels of movement behaviors and have limited opportunities to perform such behaviors. The grades and recommendations provided here should be considered to improve such opportunities.

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BACKGROUND: Active play opportunities seems to influence the level of physical activity during childhood. However, a gap remains about which environmental opportunities including the daycare physical environment could have a positive impact on the level of physical activity in preschoolers. OBJECTIVES: (1) To develop an index to measure the environmental opportunities of free active play for preschoolers of middle-income countries; (2) to check the relationship and contribution of the index to explain objectively the level of physical activity. METHODS: A quantitative, cross-sectional, exploratory study with 51 preschool children. The established criteria for the index according to the literature were: (1) Outdoor time on typical days of the week. (2) Outdoor time on a typical weekend day. (3) The presence of internal space and external environment in the child's home that allows playing. (4) Presence of patio with space for games at the school. (5) Presence of a playground with a toy at the school. We applied multi-attribute utility theory for the determination of the multicriteria index of physical environmental opportunities. Pearson's correlation analysis and simple linear regression were used to verify the association between the index and the physical activity level. RESULTS: The index showed a positive correlation with the level of physical activity, e.g., the average time of MVPA (r = 0.408, p = 0.003). The univariate linear regression demonstrated that the quality of physical environmental opportunities for physical activity explained 20% of the preschooler's classification as active and 16% of the time in moderate to vigorous physical activity (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Physical environmental opportunities for active play have a positive effect on physical activity in preschoolers and should be encouraged in different social segments.

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Active play can contribute to the reduction of sedentary time and generate potential benefits for the performance of fundamental motor skills in children. Thus, the aim of this systematic review was to provide a synthesis of evidence on the contributions of active play to fundamental motor skills in children aged 2 to 5 years typically developed, as well as to verify the differences between the intervention protocols used in the studies. The studies were identified by searching the PubMed, Web of Science and Lilacs databases. Clinical trials available in English, conducted in typically developing children, were included, and studies with the theme of electronic games were excluded. Two independent researchers examined the studies and conducted data extraction. Eight articles were included in the systematic review; three identified that children who experienced interventions with free active play had better performance in handling and balance skills. Four studies identified that children who practiced guided active play had better performance in locomotion, manipulation and balance skills, one study found no significant difference. We concluded that the practice of active play, especially guided active play, positively contributes to the fundamental motor skills of children aged 3 to 5 years typically developed. (AU)

Brincadeiras ativas podem contribuir para redução do tempo sedentário e gerar potenciais benefícios para o desempenho das habilidades motoras fundamentais em crianças. Assim, o objetivo desta revisão sistemática foi fornecer uma síntese das evidências sobre as contribuições do brincar ativo para a habilidades motoras fundamentais em crianças de 2 a 5 anos tipicamente desenvolvidas, bem como verificar as diferenças entre os protocolos de intervenção utilizados nos estudos. Os estudos foram identificados por meio de busca nas bases de dados PubMed, Web of Science e Lilacs. Foram incluídos os ensaios clínicos disponíveis em inglês, realizados em crianças com desenvolvimento típico, e excluídos os estudos com a temática de jogos eletrônicos. Dois pesquisadores independentes examinaram os estudos e conduziram a extração de dados. Oito artigos foram incluídos na revisão sistemática; três identificaram que as crianças que vivenciaram intervenções com brincadeira ativa livre tiveram melhor desempenho nas habilidades de manuseio e equilíbrio. Quatro estudos identificaram que crianças que praticavam brincadeiras ativas orientadas tinham melhor desempenho nas habilidades de locomoção, manipulação e equilíbrio, um estudo não encontrou diferença significativa. Concluímos que a prática da brincadeira ativa, especialmente a orientada, contribui positivamente para o desempenho das habilidades motoras fundamentais de crianças de 3 a 5 anos tipicamente desenvolvidas. (AU)

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BACKGROUND: Global estimates have shown that a small proportion of children and adolescents are physically active. However, the evidence on physical activity (PA) among Colombian children and adolescents is limited. The objective of this study was to describe the prevalence and correlates of meeting PA guidelines among Colombian children and adolescents. METHODS: Data were collected as part of the National Survey of Nutrition 2015. A national sample of 16,612 children and adolescents (3-17 y) was included. Prevalence estimates of meeting PA and active play guidelines were calculated, and Poisson regression models were conducted to identify correlates of PA. RESULTS: Low proportion of Colombian children and adolescents met the PA guidelines. Low engagement in active play was observed among preschoolers. Correlates varied by age group. Female sex was a consistent negative correlate of meeting PA guidelines across all age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Urgent actions are needed to promote active play and PA among Colombian children and adolescents. The correlates identified in our study can help inform the development of actions to overcome the disparities and provide opportunities for children to achieve their full potential for healthy growth and development.

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BACKGROUND: The study summarizes the findings of the 2018 Chilean Report Card (RC) on Physical Activity (PA) for Children and Adolescents and compares the results with the first Chilean RC and with other countries from the Global Matrix 3.0. METHODS: A Research Work Group using a standardized methodology from the Global Matrix 3.0 awarded grades for 13 PA-related indicators based on the percentage of compliance for defined benchmarks. Different public data sets, government reports, and papers informed the indicators. RESULTS: The grades assigned were for (1) "behaviors that contribute to overall PA levels": overall PA, D-; organized sport participation, D-; active play, INC; and active transportation, F; (2) "factors associated with cardiometabolic risk": sedentary behavior, C-; overweight and obesity, F; fitness, D; sleep, INC; and (3) "factors that influence PA": family and peers, F; school, D; inclusion, INC; community and built environment, B; government strategies and investments, B-. CONCLUSIONS: Chile's grades remained low compared with the first RC. On the positive side, Chile is advancing in environmental and policy aspects. Our findings indicate that the implementation of new strategies should be developed through collaboration between different sectors to maximize effective investments for increasing PA and decreasing sedentary time among children and adolescents in Chile.

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The aim was to examine the sociodemographic predictors associated with changes in movement behaviors (physical activity, screen time, and sleep) among toddlers and preschoolers during the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in Chile. Caregivers of 1- to 5-year-old children completed an online survey between 30 March and 27 April 2020. Information about the child's movement behaviors before (retrospectively) and during the pandemic, as well as family characteristics were reported. In total, 3157 participants provided complete data (mean children age: 3.1 ± 1.38 years). During early stages of the pandemic, time spent in physical activity decreased, recreational screen time and sleep duration increased, and sleep quality declined. Toddlers and preschoolers with space to play at home and living in rural areas experienced an attenuated impact of the pandemic restrictions on their physical activity levels, screen time, and sleep quality. Older children, those whose caregivers were aged ≥35-<45 years and had a higher educational level, and those living in apartments had greater changes, mainly a decrease in total physical activity and increase in screen time. This study has shown the significant impact of the pandemic restrictions on movement behaviors in toddlers and preschoolers in Chile.

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