JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

High prevalence of physical inactivity amongst children and adolescents continues to represent a significant health challenge globally with approximately two-thirds of children worldwide not achieving the recommended daily Physical Activity (PA) levels. Countries in the Middle East exhibit some of the highest levels of physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour, paralleled with increasing obesity rates amongst children and adolescents in the region.

Objective:

This study aims to summarize and compare findings on PA indicators amongst children and adolescents in Lebanon, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) based on the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA) PA Report Cards and compare these results with regional and global trends.

Methods:

Previous Report Cards from Lebanon, Qatar, the UAE were utilised to evaluate and compare PA indicators amongst children and adolescents, and to compare these findings with global data. Report Cards were published in 2016 (1998−2014 data), 2018 (2016−2017 data) and 2022 (2017−2022 data). Data addressing 10 key PA indicators were analysed to identify trends and gaps in PA levels and influencing factors amongst children and adolescents across these countries.

Results:

Based on data collected between 1998 and 2022, less than one-third (15%−33%) of children and adolescents in Lebanon, Qatar, and the UAE achieved the recommended daily average of 60 minutes of moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA. Additionally, more than half (45%−74%) of children and adolescents exceeded the recommended limit of two hours of recreational screen time per day. Other behavioural indicators revealed insufficient PA levels, though the results were slightly better for sources of influence indicators. In comparison with global averages from the Global Matrix, our results were generally lower across indicators. Comparable low levels of PA were commonly observed across other Asian countries.

Conclusions:

Data from a 25-year period show consistent low levels of PA and high levels of sedentary behaviour amongst children and adolescents from these three Arab Middle Eastern countries. Despite governmental investment in implementation of PA initiatives, there seems to be a lag in eliciting increases in PA at a population-level. The evidence points to a critical need for systematic PA surveillance programmes utilising nationally representative samples, with the aim to measure self-report and objective estimates of PA across different domains.