Report Card Grades

  • Overall Physical Activity: INC
  • Organized Sport and Physical Activity: C+
  • Active Play: INC
  • Active Transportation: C-
  • Sedentary Behavior: D
  • Physical Fitness: C
  • Family and Peers: C-
  • School: B+
  • Community and Environment: C
  • Government: C

Report Card Leaders

Jakub Kalinowski
President and Co-founder, V4 Sport Foundation (Poland)

At V4SPORT we specialize in designing human behaviors, with the aim to get more people more active every day. Our organization has a very specific focus on kids. In order to achieve this, we develop and deliver complex programs that are based on cross sectoral partnerships, where private, public and non-governmental organizations work together to develop new ways of combating inactivity. Over the past 9 years, we have implemented a large number of national and international initiatives, with partners from more than 30 countries, for example MoveWeek project, which is an integral part of the NowWeMOVE campaign. Some of these initiatives involved creation of the new infrastructure (we have built over 60 healthy trails around Poland), but most of them use storytelling (based on stories we have created), involve gamification, new technologies and sometimes during the design thinking process, we change the meaning of things – in a way for example, that physical fitness test becomes a fun activity for kids.

Jakub has also co-founded the first Active Healthy Kids Report Card in Poland. He serves on the Executive Committees of two global organizations: Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance and International Sport and Culture Association and he is the member of the Rural Sport Commission of the Polish Olympic Committee. Jakub is a graduate of International Relations at the Social Studies Department in Wroclaw, Poland. He studied in Poland, France, US and UK. He has over 12 years of experience in developing and leading sport and active healthy lifestyle projects, both on national and international level. He is an experienced coach and trainer. Jakub’s portfolio includes over 2000 hours of training in areas such as: strategic development, project management, fundraising based on Cause-Related Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility.

www.v4sport.eu

Pawel Zembura, Ph.D.
Pawel Zembura is an assistant professor at the Jozef Pilsudski University of Physical Education in Warsaw, Poland. He is interested in sport policy on the national and international level, especially regarding its development and implementation. On a regional level he co-authored several sport and physical activity strategic documents prepared for voivodeships and cities in Poland. Previously, he worked at the Social Challenges Unit at the University of Warsaw, trying to make use of reseach institution capabilities to solve real world problems, such as inactivity. Pawel has led a Polish research team in Global Matrix 2.0 and 3.0.

 

Report Card Grades

  • Overall Physical Activity: D-
  • Organized Sport and Physical Activity: D
  • Active Play: INC
  • Active Transportation: C
  • Sedentary Behavior: D
  • Physical Fitness: C-
  • Family and Peers: C-
  • School: B
  • Community and Environment: C
  • Government: C+

Top Three Priorities

  1. To develop and implement a more comprehensive national physical activity promotion framework which would include not only organized sports and physical education, but would further focus on avoiding sedentary behaviours, promoting active transportation or active play. Lack of national coordination mechanism referring to the various aspects of PA promotion leads to one-dimensional approach towards the concept.
  2. To put a focus on programmes delivered to the groups widely neglected in the current PA promotion framework such as pre-schoolers and older adolescents, especially girls. Better suited interventions are needed to reach groups, which are particularly in danger of not meeting recommended level of PA. Current one-fit-all governmental approach towards PA promotion, especially visible in the field of organized sports may even foster existing inequalities in reference to access to PA opportunities.
  3. To focus on a PA programs involving whole families, especially delivered in their local neighbourhood and with a use of accessible infrastructure such as parks or outdoor gyms. This could directly promote PA among parents, indirectly increase their support for children and adolescents PA and challenge their assessment of neighbourhood environment.

Report Card Leaders

Pawel Zembura, Ph.D.

Agata Korcz, Ph.D.

Testimonial

"For us in Poland, AHKGA Global Alliance 3.0 is An initiative that goes far beyond grades and identifying problems around physical inactivity of kids. Being part of the aliance creates an opportunity to spark a movement towards more active kids in Poland. A movement in which, representatives of all of the sectors are involved, as this is the only way to achieve change." - Pawel Zembura, Ph.D.

Conference Abstract: Movement to Move

Results from Poland’s 2018 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

Authors:

Pawe? Zembura (pzembura@uw.edu.pl)[1], Agata Korcz, El?bieta Cie?la, Aleksandra Go?dys, Hanna Na??cz

Introduction

The 2018 Polish Report Card is the second assessment of children and youth PA in the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance project, following the Global Matrix 2.0 in 2016.

Methods

The 2018 Polish Report Card included 10 core PA indicators used in the Global Matrix 3.0. The Research Team (RT) conducted systematic reviews to identify data sources applicable to each of the indicators, which were later assessed based on the same set of criteria. All data sources were published within the last 5 years (since 2013) except for the ones referring to the Physical Fitness indicator.

Results

Figure 1 Table of Grades for Poland

Indicator Grade
Overall Physical Activity D-
Organized Sport Participation D
Active Play INC
Active Transportation C
Physical Fitness C-
Sedentary Behaviours D
Family and Peers C-
School B
Community and Environment C
Government C+

Little has changed regarding the grades and informative data sources in 2018 when compared to the Poland’s Report Card in 2016. Important limitation were acknowledged – the grades were based on self-reported data and RT was not able to identify nearly any data sources regarding children younger than 10 years old.

Conclusions / recommendations

In spite of the promising environment regarding PA in Poland, as suggested by strong grades allocated to the School and Government indictors, the proportion of children and youth who meet the recommended levels of PA and screen time remains low. Promotional efforts need to extend beyond school sports in Poland and multicomponent strategies that engage family, peers and the community should be encouraged in order to maximize participation in PA for Polish children and youth.

[1] Zembura and Go?dys are with the Social Challenges Unit at Robert B. Zajonc Institute of Social Science, University of Warsaw, Poland. Korcz is with Poznan University of Physical Education, Poznan, Poland. Cie?la is with the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland. Na??cz is with the Institute of Mother and Child, Warsaw, Poland.

 

Report Card Grades

  • Overall Physical Activity: D
  • Organized Sport Participation: D
  • Active Play: INC
  • Active Transportation: C
  • Sedentary Behaviors: D
  • Family and Peers: C
  • School: B
  • Community and Built Environment: C
  • Government Strategies and Investments: C

Report Card Leader

Aleksandra Go?dys
Aleksandra Go?dys is co-founder of the Social Challenge Unit at University of Warsaw, Poland. For more than ten years, she has conducted research, social interventions and advocacy with a special emphasis on public health, physical activity and innovation in education. Alexsandra cooperates with the main Polish foundations that deal with life capabilities of youth (e.g., Polish Children and Youth Foundation, Foundation for the Development of the Education System, Unit for Social Innovation and Research “Shipyard”, The Polish-American Freedom Foundation) and also with international organizations such as Stanford University, Brown University, ISCA, and UEFA. Aleksandra is most proud of being part of community-based projects like planning sport strategies for two Polish regions and from the first Polish qualitative research on social usage of governmental sport infrastructure. For the last two years, her team has evaluated four main public interventions focusing on increasing physical activity level among youth, co-financed by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism in Poland. Aleksandra believes that researchers share responsibility for translating research results into real actions and real change.

Testimonial

"On a strategic level there is a common understanding of great meaning in making kids and youth more physically active, but when look closer on a practical and implementation level we still haven’t done and thought enough – polish parents prefer their kids to be well prepared to math class and sport is often considered as something secondary – not necessary in successful life. Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance put our efforts on a next level – framing this issue as Global Challenge." - Aleksandra Go?dys

Conference Abstract: 6th International Congress on Physical Activity and Public Health

Results from the Poland’s 2016 Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth

Goldys A, Na??cz H, Zembura P.

Background: The 2016 Poland’s Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth is the first assessment of child and youth physical activity in Poland using the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance grading system. The main goal was to summarize and diagnose the current state of child and youth physical activity (PA) in order to increase awareness and surveillance. 2) Methods: The systematic methodology that underpins the Active Healthy Kids Canada Report Card was adapted and applied. The best available data were consolidated, reviewed by a group of experts, and used to assign the letter grades to nine core PA indicators on a scale ranging from A (highest) to F (lowest). 3) Results: 1) Overall physical activity (D), 2) Organized sport participation (C), 3) Active play (INC), 4) Active transportation (C), 5) Sedentary behaviors (D), 6) Family and peers (C), 7) School (B), 8) Community and the built environment (C), and 9) Government strategies and investments (C). 4) Conclusions: The final grades show a strong role of school in providing PA to children and youth in Poland. However, promotion of school-based sport participation appears to be insufficient by itself to sustainably promote PA in this group.