Report of the 8th meeting of the European Union Physical Activity Focal Points Network (2018)

In the context of the European Union Council Recommendation on Promoting Health-Enhancing Physical Activity (HEPA) Across Sectors adopted in 2013 (hereafter referred to as ‘the Council Recommendation’), EU Member States were requested to appoint national physical activity focal points, notably to support the monitoring framework for HEPA policies and physical activity. As part of the collaboration to implement the above-mentioned Recommendation in the EU and to promote physical activity across Europe, the European Commission, Directorate-General for Education and Culture (DG EAC), Sport Unit, and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, Division of Noncommunicable Diseases and Promoting Health through the Life-course, held the eighth meeting of this Focal Points Network on 7-8 June 2018 in Budapest, Hungary.

The European Commission and the WHO Regional Office for Europe have been cooperating to develop and scale-up monitoring and surveillance of HEPA in the European Union Member States. The focal point network recently completed data collection for the update of the Factsheets on health-enhancing physical activity in the 28 European Union Member States of the WHO European Region.

The eighth focal point meeting discussed the process, including lessons learned, and reviewed draft templates for country factsheets and two thematic factsheets focusing on education and health. Results and lessons from the recent Eurobarometer study were discussed, updates from various ongoing projects were provided and country experience in assessing physical fitness of children was presented.