The potential effects of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games on physical activity participation at the population Level

Abstract

The award of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Tokyo in 2020 provides an opportunity for developing a Health and Physical Activity Legacy following this event. This review examines the published evidence that the Olympic Games or Paralympic Games lead to an increase in population levels of physical activity or participation in sport. Specific examples from the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010, and preliminary data from the London 2012 Olympic Games failed to demonstrate increases in physical activity or sport participation amongst representative samples of adults or children, assessed using serial population surveys leading up to and subsequent to the event. The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games offers an opportunity to develop partnerships between the health sector, sports promotion sector, the Olympics movement and exercise epidemiology specialists to develop, implement and evaluate a mass media communications campaigns and communitywide interventions to promote physical activity and sport. These programs should start several years before the Games, capitalise on the momentum provided by hosting the event, and can be assessed for their “legacy contribution” in the years following the Games. Standardised evaluation and monitoring surveillance systems are required to assess this potential impact in representative samples of the Japanese population.