SSF’s Sports Life Data, which incorporates the GPAQ, has been cited in a sister journal of The Lancet.
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SSF’s Sports Life Data, which incorporates the GPAQ, has been cited in a sister journal of The Lancet.
Since 1992, SSF has conducted the "Sports Life Survey" to better understand sports participation trends in Japan. This survey gathers comprehensive data on topics such as participation in physical activities and sports, the availability of sports facilities, and rates of sports spectating.
In 2020, as part of an expanded focus, we introduced new questions to measure physical activity levels among people in Japan. This addition aimed to support policies and research in health promotion by using the "Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ)" developed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
| Overview | GPAC is a questionnaire developed by the WHO to understand levels of physical activity participation, taking into account cultural and lifestyle differences among countries. |
|---|---|
| Purpose | To understand levels of physical activity participation (including participation in exercise or sport) in daily life |
| Survey Item | The questionnaire comprises questions about physical activity participation in three domains: activity at work, travel to and from places, and recreational activities, as well as sedentary behavior. Each of these three domains is further divided into two intensity levels: vigorous and moderate |
| Method for calculating the levels of physical activity participation | The level is calculated by multiplying weekly physical activity time by intensity. Intensity is indicated in units called METs, where 1 MET is assigned to sedentary behavior, 4 METs to moderate activity, and 8 METs to vigorous activity. |
Partially edited from SSF’s web column, “Considering Sports Policies for Health Promotion”
We have previously conducted secondary analyses using our survey results; however, we would like to inform you that, in August this year, the GPAQ results from the Sports Life Survey 2020 were cited in an article published in The Lancet Global Health, a sister journal of The Lancet, which is regarded as one of the world's top four medical journals.
In Japan, there has been limited effort to conduct large-scale nationwide surveys using GPAQ. Since the Sports Life Survey is a population-based survey (based on the Basic Resident Register) conducted at 300 locations nationwide, it was the only survey cited as the representative data for Japan among the 507 surveys from 163 countries and regions referenced in the above-mentioned article.