The 4^th Annual Global Youth Fitness Forum provided an opportunity for the UNESCO Chair on ‘Physical Activity and Health in Educational Settings’ to contribute to an international exchange on youth fitness and education. Following a personal invitation, the Chair was represented by its project coordinator, Dr. Ivan Müller. A key motivation for participating was the development of a new KaziKidz teaching resource. The Global Youth Fitness Forum was chaired by Prof. Justin J. Lang, Public Health Agency of Canada, and moderated by Prof. Shawnda A. Morrison, University of Ljubljana. The forum brought together over 100⁺ experts and partners from around the world to exchange knowledge, share experiences, and discuss the future of youth fitness, with special emphasis on how global initiatives can upscale and harmonise fitness monitoring and surveillance to improve public health outcomes. 

For the UNESCO Chair, the forum offered an important opportunity to connect the most recent scientific evidence with international perspectives and practical experience. This year, the forum included two moderators and 11 speakers from 11 countries/jurisdictions, with balanced gender representation. A copy of the speaker's list, short bio, and topic are available here (European children and youth fitness landscape - the FitBack Project | FitBack; the recording is available here).

Understanding young people’s physical fitness status, and how it is evolving, is an essential part of promoting health, well-being and active lifestyles, whilst also recognising that children and adolescents grow up in a wide variety of educational, social and cultural contexts.

From evidence to action

The exchanges made at this years' Forum reflects a key principle of the UNESCO Chair’s work: that research should not remain in academia, but contribute to meaningful change in educational settings and communities.

Through its international collaborations across Switzerland, South Africa and beyond, the UNESCO Chair works to advance physical activity, health and Quality Physical Education across diverse contexts. Participation in global networks such as the Global Youth Fitness Forum offers opportunities to learn from others, share expertise and build partnerships that help translate scientific evidence into meaningful action. One example is the publication of the third KaziKidz book, a comprehensive teaching and learning resource for Physical and Health Education for learners in Grades 4–7 in South Africa. The new KaziKidz book will soon be available on the UNESCO Chair’s website.