How societal forces of change are transforming youth physical activity promotion in North America

Authors: SZESZULSKI, JACOB - Texas A&M Agrilife; FARO, JAMIE - University Of Massachusetts; JOSEPH, RODNEY - Arizona State University; LANZA, KEVIN - University Of Texas Health Science Center; LÉVESQUE, LUCIE - Queen'S University - Canada; MONROE, COURTNEY - University Of South Carolina; PÉREZ-PAREDES, ELSA - University Of Veracruzana; SOLTERO, ERICA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); LEE, REBECCA - Arizona State University

Submitted to: Journal of Physical Activity and Health
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/28/2023
Publication Date: 10/9/2023
Citation: Szeszulski, J., Faro, J.M., Joseph, R.P., Lanza, K., Lévesque, L., Monroe, C.M., Pérez-Paredes, E.A., Soltero, E.G., Lee, R.E. 2023. How societal forces of change are transforming youth physical activity promotion in North America. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0167.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2023-0167

Interpretive Summary: Physical activity during childhood and adolescence is important for the development of optimal health and the prevention of chronic diseases. There are also psychosocial benefits associated with activity including greater self-confidence, lower depression, and improved attention and focus. We must also acknowledge that there are individual (e.g., socioeconomic status and gender) and environmental (e.g., places that children live, work, and play) factors that can have an impact on a child's ability to be physically active. In this commentary, we highlighted recent changes in youth physical activity that have resulted from 3 contemporary forces of change: climate change, increasing recognition of institutionalized discrimination, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding climate change, high ambient temperatures can disrupt when, where, and how long youth are willing and able to be active. Discrimination can limit activity as members of certain groups may feel deterred from being active alone in outdoor public spaces and as environmental factors like neighborhood inequities affect the availability of physical activity resources. During the pandemic, physical activity decreased while youths' screen time increased. To combat these forces of change, we recommend three strategies: the use of implementation science, digital health technologies, and community-based participatory research. Implementation science takes a multilevel approach to considering the context in which you are planning and implementing physical activity programs so that the program can be tailored to the youth's culture, preferences, and needs. Digital health technologies can allow for low-cost strategies and solutions like text-message based programs that can reach large amounts of individuals across large geographic areas during times like a pandemic. Lastly, community-based research that engages community members from design to dissemination can help foster feelings of inclusion and can help to better identify barriers within the environment that must be addressed in physical activity programs. These strategies should be integrated into research efforts to promote physical activity to combat the negative impacts of contemporary forces of change.

Technical Abstract: Climate change, increasing recognition of institutionalized discrimination, and the COVID-19 pandemic are large-scale, societal events (i.e., forces of change) that affect the timing, settings, and modes of youth physical activity. Despite the impact that forces of change have on youth physical activity and physical activity environments, few studies consider how they affect physical activity promotion. The authors use 2 established frameworks, the ecological model of physical activity and the youth physical activity timing, how, and setting framework, to highlight changes in physical activity patterns of youth in North America that have resulted from contemporary forces of change.North American countries - Canada, Mexico, and the United States - have faced similar but contextually different challenges for promoting physical activity in response to climate change, increasing recognition of institutionalized discrimination, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Innovative applications of implementation science, digital health technologies, and community-based participatory research methodologies may be practical for increasing and sustaining youth physical activity in response to these forces of change. Thoughtful synthesis of existing physical activity frameworks can help to guide the design and evaluation of new and existing physical activity initiatives. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers are encouraged to carefully consider the intended and unintended consequences of actions designed to respond to forces of change.