ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Developing a Socio-Ecological Framework for Promoting Physical Activity among Chinese Children and Adolescents: A Delphi–AHP Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangdong University of Education, Guangzhou, China
- 2Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, Zhuhai, China
- 3Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, China
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Purpose: Insufficient physical activity (PA) among children and adolescents poses a serious public health challenge in China, with over 84% failing to meet the World Health Organization’s daily recommendations. Despite national policies promoting PA, a lack of localized, evidence-based frameworks has hindered effective implementation. Method: Guided by socio-ecological theory, a modified Delphi method was conducted with 17 experts across two rounds to refine framework dimensions and indicators. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was then applied to calculate indicator weights. Results: The final framework comprised four dimensions—school leadership, family involvement, community support, and societal collaboration—encompassing 17 primary indicators and 58 secondary indicators. Weight analysis highlighted schools as the most influential domain (54.37%), followed by families (23.14%), communities (12.11%), and societal collaboration (10.38%). Conclusion: This study is the first to establish a localized framework for PA promotion among Chinese children and adolescents, offering clear stakeholder responsibilities and weighted indicators to guide evidence-based interventions. While grounded in China’s unique sociocultural setting, the methodology may inform similar efforts internationally. Future research should focus on empirical validation and development of standardized assessment tools based on this framework.
Keywords: physical activity, Children, adolescents, Delphi method, Analytic hierarchy process, Socio-Ecological Framework, China
Received: 12 Sep 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kong, Zhang, Zhang, Yang and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mingming Guo, guo.mingming@bnu.edu.cn
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