NPAP Plan

The National Physical Activity Plan, an initiative of the PAA, is a comprehensive framework designed to build a culture that supports active lifestyles and helps Americans meet the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The work of the National Physical Activity Plan is shaped by 10 sector committees made up of experts dedicated to advancing physical activity in their fields. These committees revise the Plan, lead special projects that strengthen sectors, and track progress through evaluation.

The Plan, itself, outlines policies, programs, and initiatives to increase physical activity for all and is organized by overarching priorities, strategies, tactics, and objectives within 10 key sectors of society. 

Read the Plan

Overarching Priorities

A set of initiatives that are viewed as critical to moving the physical activity and public health field forward and accomplishing the overall goal of increasing physical activity in the U.S. population.

Strategies

Specific evidence-informed approaches designed to promote physical activity through actions taken in each of ten societal sectors.

Tactics

Broad evidence-informed approaches, to be achieved through implementation of specific tactics.

Objectives

Identify measurable outcomes that should be attained within a specified time period.

To priorities, strategies, tactics, and objectives of the NPAP are rooted in the following guiding principles:
The Plan is grounded in a socio-ecological model of health behavior. In this model, physical activity behavior is influenced by a broad constellation of factors operating at the personal, family, institutional, community and policy level, and sustainable behavior change is most likely when influences at all the levels are aligned to support change.
The Plan includes recommendations for actions at the national, state, and local levels, but fundamentally is a roadmap for community-level that facilitates personal behavior change.
The Plan’s initiatives are evidence-based, with findings ranging from controlled research studies to best practice models.
The Plan focuses on strategies for increasing the types and amounts of physical activity recommended by current public health guidelines, in addition to reducing sedentary-time.

PAA’s National Physical Activity Plan undergoes revision every several years by 10 standing sector committees composed of experts on initiatives to promote physical activity in their given sector. In between revision periods, these committees engage in work identifying metrics for evaluation of Plan implementation and commissioning special projects which support their sector’s Strategies.
Descriptions of each committee’s work and expert members can be found on the landing page for each of the 10 sectors.