The Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance is a not-for-profit organization of researchers, health professionals and stakeholders who are working together to advance physical activity in children and youth from around the world. The Alliance was established in 2014 following the success of the world’s first Global Summit on the Physical Activity of Children in Toronto.

The Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance is a not-for-profit organization of researchers, health professionals and stakeholders who are working together to advance physical activity in children and youth from around the world. The Alliance was established in 2014 following the success of the world’s first Global Summit on the Physical Activity of Children in Toronto.

ABOUT US

ABOUT US

Our Mission

The Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance is committed to powering the global movement to get kids moving through thought leadership, knowledge translation and mobilization, capacity building, and advocacy. This is facilitated by sustainable partnerships and cross-sectoral collaborations that enable best-practice exchanges, networking and cross-fertilization.

Our Vision

A world of active healthy kids.

Our History

Development of the first Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

TORONTO, CANADA, 2005

In 2005, in an effort to power the movement to get kids moving, Active Healthy Kids Canada, a national charitable organization, created the first Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth. The Report Card summarized the best available evidence regarding physical activity in Canada and provided a comprehensive assessment of indicators relating to school, family, community and the built environment, and policy that contributed to the physical activity levels of children and youth, using the academic letter grade approach (i.e., A, B, C, D, F). The first Report Card was launched at a press event in Toronto in 2005 and achieved excellent media coverage. This encouraging beginning established the development, production, and release of the Report Card as an annual process.


Expansion of the Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

CANADA and INTERNATIONAL, 2005-2014

From 2005 to 2014, the Canadian Report Card was produced annually by Active Healthy Kids Canada in short (4-6 page summary) and long (50-100 page detailed explanation of grades and underlying data and references) forms, in both Canadian official languages (English and French) and in both printed and electronic (on-line) versions. Moreover, other jurisdictions started to replicate the Canadian Report Card model. In 2007, South Africa produced the “Report Card on Physical Activity, Nutrition and Tobacco Use for South African Children and Youth” modeled after the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card. In 2008, the Report Card model was replicated in the state of Louisiana, USA. In 2009, the province of Saskatchewan, Canada, produced their own provincial supplement to the Canadian Report Card. Other jurisdictions also began to increasingly approach Active Healthy Kids Canada for mentorship to help them prepare similar Report Cards. Eventually, this became sufficiently burdensome that Active Healthy Kids Canada decided to make the Report Cards a group effort and collaborated with 14 countries to prepare Report Cards following a harmonized process and timelines.


Global Summit on the Physical Activity of Children

TORONTO, CANADA, 2014

Acknowledging the global concern for physical inactivity and the need for preventive action, especially among children and youth, and in celebration of the 20th anniversary of Active Healthy Kids Canada and the 10th anniversary of the Report Card, Active Healthy Kids Canada hosted the Global Summit on the Physical Activity of Children in Toronto, Canada, on May 19–22, 2014. The Summit brought together nearly 900 delegates from 31 countries, including researchers, practitioners, policy-makers, and funders from the physical activity, sport, recreation, education, fitness, transportation, early childhood development, fitness, transportation, public health, and medical sectors from across the globe.


Launch of the Global Matrix 1.0

TORONTO, CANADA, 2014

At the Global Summit , 15 countries from 5 continents simultaneously released country-specific Report Cards on Physical Activity among children and youth. Overall, 158 experts from around the world participated to prepare country-specific Report Cards, which were modeled after the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card, adapted to each country's specific context, and followed procedures that were harmonized based on the Canadian process. Together this created the Global Matrix 1.0. The launch of the Global Matrix 1.0 generated worldwide media attention and offered unique insights into which countries were leading, and which were lagging, in the various Report Card indicators, and these insights offered potential solutions to help improve the grades. The process also allowed for an examination of the global situation, and facilitated international cross-fertilization of research, surveillance, and intervention efforts.


Establishment of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance

TORONTO, CANADA, 2014

Following the success of the 2014 Global Summit, the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance (AHKGA) was established as a network of researchers, health professionals, and stakeholders who work together to advance physical activity in children and youth from around the world. After the release of the Global Matrix 1.0, the lead investigators from participating countries met to debrief on its success and voted unanimously to work together, recruit additional countries, and repeat the process in the future. This led to the planning for the Global Matrix 2.0 and the formation of the AHKGA.


Assessment of the international impact of the AHKC Report Card: a 10-year analysis

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH, 2014

Over its first 10 years (2005-2014), the Report Card was replicated in 14 countries, 2 provinces, 1 state, and 1 city. In 2014, the Active Healthy Kids Canada leaders examined the impact that the Report Card had on powering the movement to get kids moving in Canada and published an article titled “Impact of the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card: A 10-Year Analysis” in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. While an improved overall grade had not been achieved and remained very low, Active Healthy Kids Canada received consistent positive feedback from stakeholders and end-users of the Report Card. The Report Card was used for public awareness/education campaigns and advocacy strategies, to strengthen partnerships, to inform research and program design, and to advance and adjust policies and strategies.


Launch of the Global Matrix 2.0

BANGKOK, THAILAND, 2016

The AHKGA organized the Global Matrix 2.0, which involved the presentation of Report Cards from 38 countries across 6 continents. The findings were released at the 6th International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 16, 2016, where over 1000 international delegates attended the conference. The Report Cards development process involved 487 experts around the world and was coordinated by the AHKGA. With the participation of 38 countries, the Global Matrix 2.0 achieved good representation of most areas of the world and provided a useful framework for consolidating and assessing the best available evidence aimed at understanding physical activity differences between and within countries.


Changes in indicators of child and youth physical activity in Canada

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, 2016

After 12 years of annual Report Card production, AHKGA leaders were able to demonstrate through a descriptive temporal trend analysis of grade changes in the Report Card between 2005 and 2016 that there have been positive net changes in several indicators of physical activity support (family, school, community and environment, government, non-government) in Canada. However, most physical activity behaviours (overall physical activity, active transportation, sedentary behaviours) have not improved over the 12 years.


Incorporation of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance as a non-for-profit organization

OTTAWA, CANADA, 2018

After approximately 4 years (2014-2018) of operating as an unofficial organization, a strategic planning session was held with the AHKGA Executive Committee at the Calabogie Resort outside of Ottawa, Canada to discuss the future of the organization. To continue to effectively pursue its vision and mission, it was deemed necessary for the AHKGA to become an official organization. In May 2018, the AHKGA officially incorporated as a not-for-profit organization to increase its leadership in advocating for the promotion of physical activity among children and youth of all ages, genders, and abilities. The Board of Directors included 9 active members of the Alliance from all continents.


Launch of the Global Matrix 3.0

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA, 2018

The AHKGA organized the Global Matrix 3.0, which involved the release of Report Cards from 49 countries across 6 continents. The findings were released at the Movement to Move conference in Adelaide, Australia, on November 27, 2018. A total of 161 delegates and speakers attended the event. The preparation of the Report Cards was led by the AHKGA and involved 513 experts from around the world. The Global Matrix 3.0 helped to recognize physical activity trends in low/medium, high and very high human development countries, identify research and surveillance gaps, and highlighted low engagement in physical activity and related behaviours across countries, confirming the state of crisis in relation to the physical activity of children and youth globally.


Assessment of the international impact of the AHKGA Report Cards on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH, 2019

To provide updated evidence of the impact of the Report Cards on powering the movement to get children and youth moving globally, the AHKGA leadership group published an article titled “The International Impact of the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance Physical Activity Report Cards for Children and Youth” in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health in 2019. The evaluation of various sources of information showed that the Report Card activities had helped to raise awareness, build capacity in the national and international scientific community, increase government involvement, generate attention in the media, initiate new policies, provide positive outcomes in research, improve surveillance, and finally power the movement to gets kids moving.


Moving forward...the Global Matrix 4.0 release

FALL, 2021

Planning for the Global Matrix 4.0 (with the target of 75 countries) is underway. Registration will be open from January 20, 2020 until April 30, 2020. The release of the Global Matrix 4.0 is scheduled for the fall of 2021.


Report Card chronology

2005-PRESENT

Click on the links available in this paragraph to view a chronology of all report cards and when they were released, a table of all report card related publications and a list of report card related presentations.

Our Board

mark-tremblay
Mark Tremblay, Ph.D.
President (Canada)
peter-katzmarzyk
Peter Katzmarzyk, Ph.D.
Vice-President and North American Representative (United States)
colombia-silvia-gonzalez-gm3
Silvia González, Ph.D. candidate
Secretary and South American Representative (Colombia)
joel-barnes-treasurer
Joel Barnes, M.Sc.
Treasurer (Canada)
salome-aubert
Salomé Aubert, Ph.D.
Oceania Representative (New Caledonia)
Javier_Brazo-Sayavera_LI
Javier Brazo-Sayavera, Ph.D.
Communications Committee Chair (Uruguay)
jakub-kalinowski
Jakub Kalinowski, M.A.
Fundraising Committee Chair (Poland)
taru-manyanga
Taru Manyanga, Ph.D.
African Representative (Zimbabwe)
john-reilly
John Reilly, Ph.D.
European Representative and Partnerships Committee Chair (Scotland)
stephen-wong-2018-400×400
Stephen H.S. Wong, Ph.D.
Asian Representative (Hong Kong)

Research and Support

Iryna-Demchenko-profile-photo-e1586463287658
Iryna Demchenko, M.D., M.SC.
Research Coordinator (Canada)
evan-turner
Evan Turner, M.Sc.
Mitacs Intern (Canada)

Annual Reports