2016 Volume 18 Issue 1 Pages 23-29
Purpose: This report was written with two goals: The first goal was to compare the differences between physical activity guidelines of each Asian country. The second goal was to compare the methods and results of the physical activity assessments of each of the Asian countries.
Methods: We performed a comprehensive search of Google Search, Google Scholar, MEDLINE, ELSEVIER, BioMed, and BMC Public Health search for information on the physical activity guidelines, as well as the methods and results of physical activity assessment across all Asian countries (n=51).
Results: We obtained the physical activity guidelines, methods and results of physical activity assessment from six countries (Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, Korea, and Japan). The physical activity guidelines of many countries were similar to those recommended by the WHO such as “at least 150 minutes of moderate level aerobic exercise, or 75 minutes of intense aerobic exercise per week”. Numerous countries have also been using the same definition of physical activity as the WHO such as “do meet at least one of the following criteria; 1) three or more days of vigorous activity of at least 20 minutes per day, 2) five or more days of moderate-intensity activity or walking of at least 30 minutes per day, 3) five or more days of any combination of walking, moderate-intensity or vigorous intensity activities achieving a minimum of at least 600 MET-min/week” for the purposes of physical activity assessment.
Conclusions: The publication of English versions of each country’s physical activity guidelines and sharing of information would, therefore, lead to further improvement of each country’s physical activity guidelines. Moreover, it is ideal to use survey methods that assure comparability on minimally required items at an international level.
