European Union Physical Activity and Sport Monitoring System

The EUPASMOS project started with the kick-off meeting in Budapest where all partners had the opportunity to get acquainted with the administrative planning and the main activities to be developed. Roles and responsibilities were clarified, project phases and budget were analyzed, and the project timeline was discussed. As previewed, a comprehensive literature review was conducted according to standardized scientific procedures to identify methods and instruments to measure sedentary behavior patterns, and PA and sport prevalence. Additionally, a literature review of the EU monitoring systems was also developed. EUPASMOS website, including all relevant information, was created and made available online. The second meeting was held in Ljubljana to ensure the preparation, fine-tuning, and readiness of the methodologies and practical procedures to support data collection in all project partners. Data on sedentary behavior patterns and PA and sport participation prevalence was collected using questionnaires and accelerometers in national population-adjusted samples. An extensive report describing the data collection methodology, instruments, and implementation was developed (EUPASMOS Manual of Operations), including the key results obtained. The third meeting was held in Utrecht to discuss the major results from the data collection process, as well as to fine-tune the strategy to develop the deliverables associated with project phase III and IV. Considering the identified need to adjust the project timeline, special attention was given to the alignment of all partners in order to cope with the challenges related to the database cleaning process and validation of PA and sport monitoring tools. In this sense, a report of the data collection implementation in each partner was elaborated. The fourth meeting was held in Lisbon to discuss the results of the validation process that was developed and to adjust the methodology used to analyze sedentary behavior, and PA and sport data. The specific tasks related to the two scientific publications previewed in the project were developed and the dissemination and communication strategy was adjusted accordingly to prepare the publication of these deliverables. Two additional publications, not initially previewed, were developed; one was already published in a peer-review journal and addresses the EUPASMOS methodology validation process. The other publication was already submitted and addresses the comparability of the existing EU PA and sport monitoring systems. An intergovernmental report was created to present the main activities developed within the EUPASMOS project and the critical information resulting from the process implementation. Main sedentary behavior and PA and sport prevalence data collected should be published in the PA section of the European Health Information Gateway - WHO European Regional office as initially previewed. The EUPASMOS project toolkit was developed in a shared process and includes recommendations, practical tips, and main challenges to be overcome by the different stakeholders that will implement similar processes in the future. This toolkit is available on the project website and is disseminated through different channels and platforms. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic context, the final meeting was held online to discuss all the administrative tasks to support the development of the final project report and the deliverables previewed, including national and international publications resulting from data collection. The final multiplier sport event previewed to present project methods, results, and resources were not developed due to the pandemic. However, still this year, the project partners will develop an online public presentation of the project deliverables.