Measuring, monitoring and strengthening the evidence base for physical activity

Regular, robust surveillance of physical activity and sedentary behaviour is essential to guide implementation of the Global Action Plan on Physical Activity -GAPPA, track progress toward global targets, and assess the health, environmental, and societal benefits of active populations. WHO supports countries, researchers, and partners in strengthening the measurement, monitoring, and evidence base for physical activity worldwide.

WHO supports Member States in national surveillance through guidance on measurement methods and protocols, as well as technical assistance for data collection, analysis, reporting and dissemination. For adults, physical activity surveillance is integrated into WHO's NCD STEPwise approach to surveillance -STEPS, which includes the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). For adolescents, the Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS) enables countries to monitor physical activity and other key health behaviours among young people aged 13-17 years.

WHO also develops global, regional and national estimates of physical inactivity by compiling and analysing comparable datasets from countries around the world. These estimates are used to monitor trends over time, identify inequalities between population groups, assess progress towards global targets and inform policy, planning and investment decisions.

Alongside supporting country surveillance, WHO is advancing measurement methods for physical activity and sedentary behaviour, with a focus on wearable sensor technologies. By convening international experts and partners, WHO is working to strengthen standardisation, improve comparability across countries and studies, and develop guidance and standard operating procedures to support the integration of wearable technologies into population surveillance and public health research.

To accelerate methodological development and global collaboration, WHO has supported the establishment of international research consortia focused on wearable-device surveillance. A flagship initiative is the Wrist Algorithms: Verification, Evaluation and Surveillance (WAVES) Consortium, a global network of researchers working to harmonise methods, data processing and analysis of wearable-device data. Originally established for adults and now expanded to include children and adolescents, WAVES is helping to build a stronger global evidence base and advance the use of wearable technologies for surveillance, research and policy evaluation.

Further information
For more information on the WAVES Consortium and WHO's work on wearable technologies and physical activity surveillance, please contact the WHO Physical Activity Unit.