Keynotes

Sports mega-events have the potential to inspire populations to become more physically active. These events, like the Olympics, Paralympics, and World Cup, capture global attention, fostering a sense of unity and excitement. Host cities often invest in infrastructure, creating new sports facilities and parks that can endure long after the event.

Additionally, the media coverage and role models from these events can inspire people to adopt healthier lifestyles. However, the potential of these events is often not realised. Sustained efforts are needed to ensure a legacy of lasting changes in physical activity and public health. In this keynote, we will learn about the invested efforts of Paris 2024 and cycling mega events to achieve population increases in physical activity.

There is strong evidence on the economic benefits of physical activity, particularly for the healthcare sector, and there is emerging evidence on the economic benefits across the wider system. However, physical activity is yet to gain the political traction afforded to other areas of public health such as tobacco control, sugar sweetened beverages and fossil fuels.

Physical activity is influenced by broad socio-economic and political factors that facilitate or hinder active lifestyles, including urban planning, transportation policies and access to recreational spaces. Drawing on key lessons from other areas of public health, this session will focus on the actions needed to shape the political landscape to ensure greater priority, resource allocation and investment to support physical activity for all.

Digital devices, such as wearables and mobile phones, hold immense potential for revolutionizing population surveillance of physical activity. Wearables, in particular, enable continuous and unobtrusive data collection on physical activity, providing valuable insights for both individuals and population surveillance.

This keynote talk will focus on developments in the commercial world that are enhancing the potential for consumer wearables to be used for physical activity surveillance. This will include advances in technology and algorithms that are improving both the capability of consumer devices and the accuracy of data derived from them. The talk will discuss the pros and cons of using consumer devices for surveillance by drawing on a range of real-world examples.

National policies provide a framework for physical activity promotion, but their success depends on effective implementation at a local level. Local action involves tailoring these policies to fit the needs and resources of specific communities.

This session will showcase examples from around the world of physical activity policy frameworks, their development processes, and the systems in place to support implementation.