Monitoring and Surveillance of Physical Activity in Children and Young People in Australia: Report of a National Consensus Workshop, December 2005

In April 2005 the National Public Health Partnership (NPHP) approved a project to develop a consensus approach to measurement of physical activity in children and young people (“the project”). The project related to an identified priority in Be Active Australia: A Framework for Health Sector Activity for Physical Activity 2005–2010. This priority has been endorsed by the Australian Health Ministers’ Council and by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council. Arising from the project, a National Consensus Workshop (“the workshop”) hosted by the Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention (CDIP) Working Group of NPHP and organised by a project-specific steering committee, convened on 8–9 December 2005. At the time when the project was approved by the NPHP in April 2005, it was also known that the Australian Government was interested in establishing a National Nutrition and Physical Activity Monitoring System. The first stage, a National Children’s Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, to commence in 2006, was announced in September 2005, with a $3M initial funding commitment ($1M from Department of Health and Ageing [DoHA], $1M from Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry [DAFF], and $1M from the Australian Food and Grocery Council); with a $1M ongoing commitment from DoHA towards the ongoing System. The workshop was intended to inform polic