Evaluation of the Government indicator methodology in the Global Matrix on physical activity for children and adolescents

Abstract

Background/Objectives The Government indicator evaluates national policies and strategies for child and adolescent physical activity, supporting country reporting and international comparisons within the Global Matrix initiative. To grade this indicator, countries/jurisdictions apply either the original method or, in recent editions, an alternative approach. The alternative approach was proposed by the Welsh team, who derived six criteria from the World Health Organization’s Health-enhancing Physical Activity Policy Audit Tool v2 and developed an accompanying scoring rubric. This study aimed to evaluate the Welsh approach in comparison with the original method to guide recommendations for future applications. Methods The study employed a mixed-methods design, including: 1) inductive content analysis of feedback collected via survey from 17 researchers and policy professionals from various countries, and 2) descriptive and Wilcoxon signed-rank analysis of Government indicator grades from Global Matrices 3.0 and 4.0 in 6 countries that transitioned to the Welsh approach and 28 countries/jurisdictions that retained the original method. Results User feedback on the Welsh approach was predominantly positive, noting its structure, transparency, and comprehensiveness as strengths, and indicating greater utility and suitability than the original method. Concerns included limited consideration of policy implementation and feasibility aspects. No statistically significant group-level temporal grade differences were found for both methods. Conclusion The Welsh approach adds structure and transparency to the Government indicator assessment. Further refinements to the Welsh approach may improve comparability and policy relevance, while both the Welsh and original methods remain acceptable for interim use within the Global Matrix, with potential applicability beyond it.