Methodology and Detailed Findings

The purpose of this report card is to show thecurrent state and determinants of physical activity
and health in Japanese children and adolescents
aged from 6 to 17 years old. Nationally
representative Japanese data were used: this is anational report card. Grades were determined using
the international method as follows:
The card grades are determined by the percentage of Japanesechildren and adolescents meeting the benchmark for each indicator.

94ー100% A 87ー93% A- 80ー86%
A AWe aresucceeding with a large majority of children and youth＋80-100%

B 67ー73% B - 60ー66%
B BWe 74ー79%
are succeeding with well over half of children and youth＋

60-79%

54ー59% C 47ー53% C- 40ー46%
C CWe aresucceeding with about half of children and youth＋

40-59%

34ー39% D 27ー33% D - 20ー26%
D DWe aresucceeding with less than half but some children and youth＋

20-39%The detailed methodology and detailed ﬁndings of this reportcard (data and references etc.) are available on our website(www.activekids.jp). An academic publication based on the 2022 Japan
Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and Youth is published in theJournal of Exercise Science & Fitness.

Next Steps
This is the third version of the Japan Report Card on Physical Activity forChildren and Youth. We are planning to publish it subsequently to monitorchanges to each grade, in 2025. To do so, we need further funding and areseeking partnerships with individuals or organizations who might consider
providing ﬁnancial or other support. Please contact the Active Healthy Kids
Japan Group (active.healthy.kids.japan@gmail.com) for further information.

Acknowledgements
This card was produced with a partnership between the Tokyo Kasei GakuinUniversity (Prof. Chiaki Tanaka), the Shimane University (Dr. Takafumi Abe),the Kagawa Nutrition University (Prof. Shigeho Tanaka), the National
Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition (Dr. YoichiHatamoto), the Waseda University (Prof. Motohiko Miyachi), the Tokyo
Medical University (Prof. Shigeru Inoue), and the University of Strathclyde(Prof. John J Reilly). The authors thank Prof. Minoru Takakura and M.S. Kenji
Ueta as the Stakeholder for their varied and substantial contributions to the2022 Japan Report Card.

F FWe0ー20%
are succeeding with very few children and youth

0-20%

or inadequate informationINC Incomplete̶insufﬁcient
to assign a grade
Table 1. Grades According to Physical Activity Indicatorin the 2022 Japan Report Card on Physical
Activity for Children and YouthIndicator

Shimane University島根大学

Grades

1. Overall Physical Activity ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・B 2. Organized Sport and Physical Activity・・・・・・・B 3. Active Play・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ INC
4. Active Transportation ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・A 5. Sedentary Behaviors ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・C 6. Physical Fitness ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ B
7. Weight Status ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ A
8. Sleep ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・D 9. Family and Peers ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・C 10. School・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・B +11. Community and the Built Environment ・・・・・・ B
12. Government ・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・ B
The grades illustrate the state of physical activity inJapanese children and adolescents. The report card
can be utilized as information to support policy
development in physical activity for children andadolescents, families, schools, local communities andthe country as a whole.

National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation,
Health and Nutrition
国立研究開発法人 医薬基盤・健康・栄養研究所
国立健康・栄養研究所

Tokyo Medical University
東京医科大学

早稲田大学

The 2022 Japan Report Card on

The 2022 Japan Report Card on Physical Activity for Children and YouthPhysical Activity,
Health Behaviours
and Outcomessmartphones, PCs etc. after school on weekdays and onweekends.

-40-46%

6 Physical Fitness

1Overall Physical Activity

Sixty three % of 12- to 15-year-olds accumulated
at least 60 minutes of moderate- tovigorous-intensity physical activity per day on atleast 4 days a week according to the WHO HealthBehaviour in School-aged Children(HBSC) Japanese version (HBSC-J) (Tanaka et al. 2017).
The HBSC-J was part of the 2019 SSF (Sasakawa
60-66%
Sports Foundation) National Sports-Life Survey.

B

2Organized Sport and Physical Activity
Participation in organized sport was reported for
63 % of 6-to 17-year-olds by the Reportof Survey on Physical Strength andAthletic Performance of Japan Sports
60-66%Agency (2020).

BWe evaluated average percentiles for aged
9‒17 years achieved on some physicalﬁtness indicators based on the normativevalues published by Tomkinson et al. (2018).
The average number of laps in the 20-m
shuttle run ranged from the 80th to 91st centiles; theaverage distance in the standing broad jump ranged from70th to 83rd centiles; the average grip strength ranged
from 32nd to 48th centiles; the average number ofsit-ups ranged from 63rd to 85th centiles from theReport of the Survey on Physical Strength and Athletic
Performance of the Japan Sports Agency (2020).

There are no representative Japanese data
for active and outdoor play. There are noJapanese government
recommendations for active
and outdoor play.

INC

4Active Transportation

The National Survey on Physical Fitness, Athletic
Performance and Exercise Habits of the JapanSports Agency (2017) reported that 89 %of 10-to 11-year-olds and 82 % of 13-to
14-year-olds regularly commuted actively
80-86%(walking or cycling) to school.

AThe National Survey on Physical Fitness, Athletic
Performance and Exercise Habits of the JapanSports Agency (2017) reported that 49 % of 10-to
11-year-olds and 38 % of 13-to 14-year-olds spentless than 2 hours per day watching TV and/orDVDs, using portable electronic devices having game functions,% of 13-to 14-year-olds reported that their guardians
encourage them often or sometimes to exercise or do sports(2018). The National Health and Nutrition Survey (2020)
reported that daily step counts were 7,226 in adults aged 20 to64 years old. The prevalence of healthy weight in Japanese
adults was 64.5 %. Participation in sport twice ormore a week, 30 minutes or more per time over 1
year was reported by 20 % of Japanese adults.

C40-46%

10School

The School Health Survey data (2019) by the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology (MEXT) reported that 8.68 % of 6-17
year old Japanese boys and girls wereobese. Overall, however, the levels are highcompared to the 1980s. On the other hand, the87-93%
percentage of underweight children was 2.33 %.

The Japanese government sets
primary school, junior high school, and high school
curricula including the content of physicaleducation (PE) classes and the number of PE
classes provided. All schools have recess time inprimary school, junior high school, and high school. However, PEin primary schools isnʼt taught by specialized course teachers
who have studied PE (only 5 % in primary schools). The MEXT
produces guidelines for school infrastructure and equipment for
PE or active play in primary schools, junior high schools, and highschools, such as the area of the school playground and theexistence of a gymnasium and relevant equipment according toeducation guidelines (eg, sports mat, horizontal bars, hurdles,etc). Although health education classes past the 3rd＋
grade use text books, there are no specialized physicaleducation text books for practical exercise and sports
74-79%
in Japanese primary schools.

8Sleep11Community and the Built Environment

B

67-73%

7Weight Status

A

3Active Play

5Sedentary Behaviours

CThe National Survey on Physical Fitness, Athletic
Performance and Exercise Habits of the JapanSports Agency (2019) reported that 24 % of 13- to
14-year-olds met the National Sleep
Foundationʼs sleep time duration
recommendations (Hirshkowitz et al. 2015)
recommended that teenagers spend 8 to 10 hours
60-66%
asleep per day).

DSettings and Influenceson Physical Activity and Health

9Family and Peers
In 10-11 year old students, the reported
percentage of participation in sport or exercise
with a guardian once or more per week was 31%(2015). Fifty seven % of 10-to 11-year-olds and 48

B

Health Japan 21 (second term) by the Ministry ofHealth, Labour and Welfare reported that thenumber of local governments which addressed
the need to improve the physicalenvironment where residents can easily
exercise and be physically active stood at 72 % of
67-73%
prefectures (34/47 prefectures).

B

12Government
There are many relevant laws and ordinancessuch as The Basic Act on Sport, the Health
Promotion Law, the Basic Act on Food Education,and so on. There are also strategies and policies
in place like the Sport Basic Plan and HealthJapan 21 (second term). Physical activity guidelines exist forpreschool children, adults, and the elderly. However,national physical activity guidelines for children and67-73%
adolescents (6-17 years) have not been established.

B