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Background: This review of reviews aimed to: (1) summarize the evidence from published reviews on the effectiveness of mass-media campaigns to promote physical activity (PA) or PA-related determinants (intermediate psychological and proximal outcomes) and (2) to identify policy-relevant recommendations related to successful PA campaigns., Methods: An extensive literature search was performed on 1 March 2021. Reviews that evaluated the impact of campaigns on distal (e.g. PA) and/or proximal outcomes of PA (awareness, knowledge, etc.) and that targeted the general population or subsets were included. Quality of reviews was assessed using the AMSTAR-2 tool. Policy-relevant recommendations were systematically derived and synthesized and formulated as good practice statements. A protocol was registered beforehand (ID: CRD42021249184)., Results: A total of 1915 studies were identified, of which 22 reviews were included. The most consistent evidence was found for the effectiveness of mass-media campaigns on proximal outcomes, while the evidence for distal outcomes was mixed. Good practice statements were derived: (1) to achieve behaviour change, mass-media is an important component of larger, multilevel and multicomponent strategies; (2) mass-media strategies should be coordinated and aligned at local- and national-level and be sustained, monitored and resourced at these levels and (3) media should be tailored to reduce socioeconomic inequalities., Conclusions: Mass-media can play an important role in the promotion of PA. In general, evidence was more inconsistent for effectiveness on distal outcomes than for proximal outcomes. Policy-relevant recommendations include that mass-media strategies should be resourced, coordinated, aligned, sustained, monitored and evaluated on the local and national level., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: A multifaceted response, including government action, is essential to improve population levels of physical activity (PA). This article describes the development process of the 'Physical Activity Environment Policy Index' (PA-EPI) monitoring framework, a tool to assess government policies and actions for creating a healthy PA environment., Methods: An iterative process was undertaken. This involved a review of policy documents from authoritative organizations, a PA policy audit of four European countries, and a systematic review of scientific literature. This was followed by an online consultation with academic experts (N = 101; 20 countries, 72% response rate), and policymakers (N = 40, 4 EU countries). During this process, consensus workshops were conducted, where quantitative and qualitative data, alongside theoretical and pragmatic considerations, were used to inform PA-EPI development., Results: The PA-EPI is conceptualized as a two-component 'policy' and 'infrastructure support' framework. The two-components comprise eight policy and seven infrastructure support domains. The policy domains are education, transport, urban design, healthcare, public education (including mass media), sport-for-all, workplaces and community. The infrastructure support domains are leadership, governance, monitoring and intelligence, funding and resources, platforms for interaction, workforce development and health-in-all-policies. Forty-five 'good practice statements' or indicators of ideal good practice within each domain conclude the PA-EPI. A potential eight-step process for conducting the PA-EPI is described., Conclusions: Once pre-tested and piloted in several countries of various sizes and income levels, the PA-EPI good practice statements will evolve into benchmarks established by governments at the forefront of creating and implementing policies to address inactivity., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: Fighting the climate crisis is the greatest challenge of our time and will touch all aspects of people's lives. In this context, the United Nations (UN) have called on the sport sector to reduce its negative impacts on the environment and show 'climate leadership'. While some efforts have already been made with regards to mega sport events, there is still a dearth of approaches on limiting the climate impact of recreational sport and exercise programmes., Methods: Based on the UN-Framework 'Sports for Climate Action', literature reviews and additional desk research, a checklist to support local level stakeholders in providing climate-friendly sport and exercise programmes was developed., Results: The proposed checklist consists of five dimensions that need to be considered when designing and offering a climate-friendly sport and exercise programme: (i) active transport to exercise programmes, (ii) the carbon footprint of different types of exercises, (iii) low carbon sport clothing and equipment, (iv) instructors as champions for climate action and (v) advertising and communication. These five dimensions result in a 16-item checklist that supports the planning, advertising, implementation and evaluation of climate-friendly sport and exercise programmes., Conclusions: The proposed checklist intends to facilitate the development of climate-friendly sport and exercise programmes. However, additional work is needed to test the implementation of the checklist at the local level. While the sport sector can make its own contributions to reduce its climate impact, intersectoral action is needed to improve infrastructure for active transport and to build sustainable sport facilities., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: An analysis of currently existing partnerships and cross-country collaboration for physical activity (PA) promotion is valuable for understanding how such partnerships operate, and how they impact national PA promotion efforts. This study aimed to outline the formation and development of the European Union's (EU) Physical Activity Focal Points Network, to evaluate its outputs and benefits and to describe its potential and challenges., Methods: A mixed methods approach were employed, including document analysis, semi-structured interviews with key officials and an online evaluation survey with the focal points., Results: The network was founded in 2014. Its main task is to coordinate the national collection of information for the EU's Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) Monitoring Framework. Besides collecting data, focal points usually meet twice a year to share best practices and plan activities for the promotion of PA within the EU. The results of the evaluation survey show that participation in the network helped members specify goals for PA promotion, gain more knowledge regarding how to promote PA, identify more opportunities to promote PA in their country and to join a collaborative project with other countries., Conclusions: The study shows that the EU Physical Activity Focal Points Network may serve as an example of successful cross-country collaboration in PA promotion. The network has been able to make a contribution to monitoring the implementation of the EU Council Recommendation on HEPA across sectors in particular and of PA promotion in the EU in general., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: Policy action is required to address physical inactivity in boys and girls. This action can be supported by international data collection, comparisons and sharing of good practices. Thus, this study aims to present and discuss the ongoing monitoring of physical activity (PA) indicators in children and adolescents in the 28 EU Member States., Methods: Data on PA recommendations, PA prevalence, physical education (PE) and PA promotion programs for children and adolescents were provided by governments in a joint EU/WHO survey on the implementation status of the EU Council Recommendation on Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) across Sectors., Results: In 23 countries, national recommendations on PA are available. Detailed PA prevalence data among children and adolescents was available in 27 countries, in most cases separately for sex/gender and age groups. The total amount of PE lessons in schools differed greatly between countries and lessons were predominantly mandatory. After-school HEPA promotion programs were mostly implemented in EU Member States (78.6%), followed by active school breaks (57.1%), active travel to school (57.1%) and active breaks during school lessons (53.6%)., Conclusions: This study summarizes the monitoring of PA indicators among children and adolescents in all EU Member States by providing a comprehensive overview of the status of PA promotion and monitoring across the region. Based on our findings, it could be concluded that the current EU monitoring system on PA promotion should be adapted to provide evidence that can inform future policy development., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for non-communicable diseases. However, recent and systematically obtained national-level data to guide policy responses are often lacking, especially in countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This article describes physical inactivity patterns among adults in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan., Methods: Data were collected using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire drawing nationally representative samples of adults in each country. The national prevalence of physical inactivity was calculated as well as the proportional contribution to total physical activity (PA) during work, transport and leisure-time. An adjusted logistic regression model was applied to analyze the association of age, gender, education, household status and income with physical inactivity., Results: National prevalence of physical inactivity ranged from 10.1% to 43.6%. The highest proportion of PA was registered during work or in the household in most countries, whereas the lowest was during leisure-time in all countries. Physical inactivity was more likely with older age in eight countries, with female gender in three countries, and with living alone in three countries. There was no clear pattern of association with education and income., Conclusion: Prevalence of physical inactivity is heterogeneous across the region. PA during leisure-time contributes minimally to total PA in all countries. Policies and programs that increase opportunities for active travel and leisure-time PA, especially for older adults, women and people living alone will be an essential part of strategies to increase overall population PA., (© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Health promotion research has increasingly called for transdisciplinary approaches. Such calls ask for bridging frameworks that define comprehensive sets of health determinants and appropriately conceptualize the roles of population groups as well as other relevant actor groups in the co-production of health. This article aims to present the seminal capability approach by Sen and Nussbaum as a potentially suitable framework for such bridging endeavors to guide health promotion research. It highlights domains of the capability approach that appear to be particularly relevant to bridging diverse disciplines and settings. Such domains particularly refer to the agency of decisive actor groups (population groups, professionals, policymakers and researchers) as well as to the differentiation of personal, social and environmental conversion factors that disciplines define within their specific epistemologies and ontologies. The article uses empirical examples from a German research consortium that aimed to promote physical activity in five different settings while fostering cooperation and conceptual alignment between several academic disciplines and sub-disciplines to highlight benefits and challenges of using the capability approach as a bridging framework for transdisciplinary health promotion. We conclude that the capability approach might serve as bridging framework to guide future transdisciplinary research if partners involved continuously exchange to develop a shared understanding of the issues to be researched., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Apprentices in many sectors are exposed to increased health risks and show low levels of physical activity (PA). Environmental and policy approaches seem to be promising tools for PA promotion as they can positively influence the context in which PA occurs. This article reports results from a German research project (2015-2018) that developed and implemented measures for PA promotion in the field of vocational education (VE). A participatory approach-cooperative planning (COP)-involving researchers as well as stakeholders from policy and practice was used in two VE settings-nursing care and automotive mechatronics. We assessed the extent to which new capacities for PA promotion were created by conducting semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from both sectors (n = 12) and one group interview with nursing students (n = 4). Transcripts were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings show that new capacities were created mainly in the form of resources and opportunities and that several measures for PA promotion (e.g. a regular lesson on the issue of PA and health and a tutoring system) were successfully integrated into VE routines. However, establishing new organizational goals and obligations appeared to be challenging. Moreover, the article presents influencing factors, such as the participation of the main actors that strongly supported the process of capacity building within their organization. We conclude that COP seems promising in creating new capacities for PA promotion in the field of VE, and therefore has the potential to promote a physically active lifestyle among apprentices., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press.)

As recently discussed in the public health literature, many questions concerning 'structural' approaches in health promotion seem to remain unanswered. We argue that, before attempting to provide answers, it is essential to clarify the underlying theoretical assumptions in order to arrive at the right questions one should ask. To this end, we introduce into the current debate an existing theoretical framework that helps conceptualize structural and individual aspects of health promotion interventions at different levels of action. Using an example from the field of physical activity promotion, we illustrate how an integrated framework can help researchers and health promoters rethink important issues and design better interventions. In particular, such an approach may help overcome perceived distinctions between different types of approaches, re-conceptualize ideas about the effectiveness of interventions, and appropriately address issues of health disparities.

This article outlines a theoretical framework for an interactive, research-driven approach to building policy capacities in health promotion. First, it illustrates how two important issues in the recent public health debate, capacity building and linking scientific knowledge to policy action, are connected to each other theoretically. It then introduces an international study on an interactive approach to capacity building in health promotion policy. The approach combines the ADEPT model of policy capacities with a co-operative planning process to foster the exchange of knowledge between policy-makers and researchers, thus improving intra- and inter-organizational capacities. A regional-level physical activity promotion project involving governmental and public-law institutions, NGOs and university researchers serves as a case study to illustrate the potential of the approach for capacity building. Analysis and comparison with a similar local-level project indicate that the approach provides an effective means of linking scientific knowledge to policy action and to planning concrete measures for capacity building in health promotion, but that it requires sufficiently long timelines and adequate resources to achieve adequate implementation and sustainability., (© The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

There is a growing interest among health promotion researchers to better understand and influence the policy process. However, at this point in time, theoretical concepts enabling researchers to do so are still rare and underused, suggesting a need for new, easy-to-use concepts to explain successes or failures of health promotion policies. This article presents the ADEPT (Analysis of Determinants of Policy Impact) approach, which aims to explain and influence policy development and policy impact implementation with four determinants: goals, obligations, resources and opportunities. ADEPT provides a detailed operationalization for both quantitative and qualitative use. An empirical test of the ADEPT model using a quantitative survey of 719 policy-makers from four health promotion policy fields and six European nations indicated that both policy outputs and policy outcomes are influenced by the four determinants. The approach has, in the meantime, been successfully utilized to analyze and initiate policy development in a number of health promotion projects. Despite a number of limitations, ADEPT provides an easy-to-use, theory-based and parsimonious tool for understanding and influencing policy processes in health promotion. Moreover, as it identifies potential 'levers of influence' and can easily be connected to existing methods of community development or capacity building, it is a particularly powerful tool for policy development.