Development of a National Physical Activity Plan for the United States

Efforts to increase population levels of physical activity are increasingly taking the form of strategic plans at national, state/regional, and local levels. The processes employed for developing such plans have not been described previously. The purpose of this article is to chronicle the processes employed in and lessons learned from developing the US National Physical Activity Plan (NPAP).

The Coordinating Committee oversaw development of the NPAP. Key steps in the process included creating a private-public coalition based in the private sector, organizing the NPAP around 8 societal sectors, reviewing the evidence base for promotion of physical activity in each sector, conducting a national conference to initiate development of the NPAP's core content, ensuring broad participation in developing and refining the NPAP, and launching the NPAP through a press event that attracted national attention.

The 3-year effort to develop the NPAP was guided by a private-public collaborative partnership involving private sector organizations and government agencies. Launched in May 2010, the NPAP included more than 250 evidence-based recommendations for changes to policy and practice at the national, state, and local levels across 8 societal sectors.