Syracuse

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than a quarter of the world’s adult population and 80 per cent of adolescents are insufficiently physically active. Physical inactivity has in fact been identified as one of the leading risk factors for global mortality.

WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour highlight how physical activity is good to prevent and manage conditions such as heart disease, type-2 diabetes and cancer, reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, and enhance thinking, learning and overall well-being.

Through the years, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recognised that it has a significant advocacy role to play in the promotion of the practice of sport and physical activity at all levels around the world. Already its founder, Pierre de Coubertin, who also reinvented the modern Olympic Games, had been advocating the inclusion of physical education in schools in the early 1900s. His certainty of the benefits of physical education for body, will and mind of school children was unshakable, and it was his vision for the Olympic Games and their champions to inspire all people to engage in sport. “All sports for all people” was demanded by Coubertin, who also said: “It is my profound conviction that (the Olympic Games) are one of the cornerstones of progress and health for the youth of our day.”

Over the years, the IOC has developed and implemented numerous programmes to promote the practise of sport at grassroots level. One of them being Olympic Day, celebrated every year on 23 June, since 1948, it is a day for the world to get active, learn about the Olympic values and discover new sports. Over the last 20 years, Olympic Day has been associated with Olympic Day Runs. First launched in 1987, the runs were about encouraging all National Olympic Committees to celebrate Olympic Day and promote the practice of mass sport. In addition, the IOC’s Olympic Values Educational Programme, a series of free and accessible teaching resources, promotes and teaches the long-term benefits of sport and physical activity and their impact on individual health, enjoyment and social interaction.

Today, the IOC Sport and Active Society Commission (created in 1983 under the name of Sport for All Commission) aims to encourage society to participate in regular physical activity and to promote the health and social benefits that are gained by doing so. It advises on all the activities of the Olympic Movement that are related to using sport to improve physical activity among the population, giving access to sport as a right for all, and engaging in sports activities, with a special focus on young people.

The Commission works closely with a host of organisations that are active in the field of promoting the practice of sport and physical activity across the world, such as The Association for International Sport for All (TAFISA), the World Union of Olympic Cities, the WHO and UNESCO.

All these actions to improve physical activity at all levels contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, particularly SDG3: “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”.

On this page, you will find a wide range of recommended resources and reference pages on this topic. To start with,  we recommend reading: Promoting physical activity through schools: a toolkit by the WHO, 2nd physical activity almanac by the Global Observatory for Physical Activity GoPA, and the International charter of physical education, physical activity and sport by UNESCO.

Note that the publications on this page represent only a selection of all the resources available on this topic in the Olympic World Library. For the full list, see the link at the bottom of the page, or search in the full catalogue by topic or author.