Summary of health outcomes (in alphabetical order) by population groups addressed in the 2020 global guidelines evidence reviews
| 5–17 years PA and SB | Adults 18–64 years PA | Adults over 18 years SB | Adults over 65 years PA | Pregnancy and post partum | Chronic conditions* | Children and adults with disability* | |
| Outcomes | Importance† | ||||||
| Adiposity—weight gain, weight change, weight control, weight stability, weight status and weight maintenance | Critical | Critical | Critical | Critical | Critical | ||
| Adverse events | Critical | Critical | Critical | Critical | |||
| All-cause and cause-specific mortality | Critical | Critical | Critical | Critical—cancer and cancer-specific | |||
| Bone health | Critical | ||||||
| Cardiometabolic health | Critical | ||||||
| Cognitive outcomes | Critical | Critical | Critical | Critical—MS, PD, Stk, Sch, ADHD | |||
| Delivery complications | Important | ||||||
| Disease progression | Critical—HT, T2D, HIV Critical—cancer recurrence | ||||||
| Falls and fall-related injuries | Critical | ||||||
| Fetal outcomes | Critical | ||||||
| Functional ability | Critical | ||||||
| Gestational diabetes mellitus | Critical | ||||||
| Gestational hypertension/pre-eclampsia | Critical | ||||||
| Health-related quality of life | Important | Important | Critical—HT, T2D, HIV | Critical—MS, SCI, ID, MCD, Sch | |||
| Incidence of cancer | Critical | Critical | Critical | ||||
| Incidence of CVD | Critical | Critical | Critical | ||||
| Incidence of hypertension | Important | Important | |||||
| Incidence of type 2 diabetes | Critical | Critical | Critical | ||||
| Mental health (symptoms of anxiety and depression) | Critical | Critical | Critical | Critical | |||
| Osteoporosis | Critical | ||||||
| Physical fitness | Critical | ||||||
| Physical function | Critical—HT, T2D, HIV | Critical—MS, SCI, ID, PD, Stk | |||||
| Prosocial behaviour | Important | ||||||
| Psychosocial outcomes | Important | ||||||
| Risk of comorbid conditions | Critical—HT, T2D, HIV | Critical—MS, SCI, ID | |||||
| Sleep | Important | Important | Important |
*Outcomes are for subpopulation condition as listed: HT, T2D, MS, SCI, ID, PD, Stk, Sch, ADHD, MCD.
†Critical outcome: an outcome that is critical to decision-making. Important outcome: an outcome that is important, but not critical to decision-making.
ADHD, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; CVD, cardiovascular disease; HT, hypertension; ID, intellectual disability; MCD, major clinical depression; MS, muscular sclerosis; PA, physical activity; PD, Parkinson’s disease; SB, sedentary behaviour; Sch, schizophrenia; SCI, spinal cord injury; Stk, in stroke survivors; T2D, type 2 diabetes.