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The Australian and Canadian 24-hour movement guidelines for children and youth synthesized studies in English and French or other languages (if able to be translated with Google translate) and found very few studies published in English from Arabic countries that examined the relationship between objectively measured sedentary behaviour (SB), sleep and physical activity (PA) and health indicators in children aged 5-12 years. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate the relationships between 24-hour movement behaviours and health indicators in school-aged children from Arab-speaking countries. Online databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, SPORTdiscus, CINAHL, PsycINFO and Scopus were searched for English, French and Arabic studies (written in English), while Saudi Digital Library, ArabBase, HumanIndex, KSUP, Pan-Arab Academic Journal, e-Marefa, Al Manhal eLibrary and Google Scholar were searched for Arabic studies. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation framework was used to assess the risk of bias and the quality of evidence for each health indicator. A total of 16 studies, comprising 15,346 participants from nine countries were included. These studies were conducted between 2000 and 2019. In general, low levels of PA and sleep and high SB were unfavourably associated with adiposity outcomes, behavioural problems, depression and low self-esteem. Favourable associations were reported between sleep duration and adiposity outcomes. SB was favourably associated with adiposity outcomes, withdrawn behaviour, attention and externalizing problems. PA was favourably associated with improved self-esteem and adiposity outcomes. Further studies to address the inequality in the literature in the Arab-speaking countries to understand the role of 24-hour movement behaviours and its positive influence on health outcomes across childhood are urgently needed.

Lack of physical activity is a global public health problem causing not only morbidity and premature mortality, but it is also a major economic burden worldwide. One of the cornerstones of a physically active lifestyle is Motor Competence (MC). MC is a complex biocultural attribute and therefore, its study requires a multi-sectoral, multi-, inter- and transdisciplinary approach. MC is a growing area of research, especially in children and adolescents due to its positive association with a plethora of health and developmental outcomes. Many questions, however, remain to be answered in this field of research, with regard to: (i) Health and Developmental-related Associations of MC; (ii) Assessment of MC; (iii) Prevalence and Trends of MC; (iv) Correlates and Determinants of MC; (v) MC Interventions, and (vi) Translating MC Research into Practice and Policy. This paper presents a narrative review of the literature, summarizing current knowledge, identifying key research gaps and presenting questions for future investigation on MC in children and adolescents. This is a collaborative effort from the International Motor Competence Network (IMCNetwork) a network of academics and researchers aiming to promote international collaborative research and knowledge translation in the expansive field of MC. The knowledge and deliverables generated by addressing and answering the aforementioned research questions on MC presented in this review have the potential to shape the ways in which researchers and practitioners promote MC and physical activity in children and adolescents across the world., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings have a pivotal role in the promotion of physical activity for young children, and thus, the number of ECEC-based physical activity interventions has exponentially increased in the last two decades. The aim of this study was three-fold: (1) to discuss some of the similarities and differences in ECEC-based physical activity interventions, (2) to highlight current trends and issues in the ECEC sector relating to such interventions, and (3) to provide recommendations for future interventions. Twenty-four individual studies are discussed. Most studies have targeted children aged between 3 and 5 years and involved children participating in additional physical activity opportunities while at childcare. In all studies, educators participated in some professional development either prior or during the intervention. Less the half of the studies discussed reported significant positive changes in physical activity outcomes. Those involved in developing future interventions will need to consider current national and international trends in the ECEC sector (e.g., over-crowded curriculum, administrative requirements, and more highly-qualified educators devoting time for business development), as well as creative and unique ways of delivering ECEC-based physical activity interventions.