On 26-27 April 2025, the Asian College of Exercise and Sports Science (ACESS) held an expert validation meeting for the International Occupational Standard for Children’s Physical Activity and Health Accompanist in Nanning, Guangxi. The meeting was chaired by Dr. HUA Yongmin, Secretary General of the ACESS, and attended by experts and scholars in the field of children’s health promotion from China, Thailand and Singapore as well as representatives of enterprises, and was attended by the head and members of the Sub-Committee on Children’s Health and Development, as well as the members of the China Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Innovation Teams of the Guangxi College for Preschool Education.
The meeting heard a report from the head of the Sub-Committee on Child Health and Development and the TVET Innovation Teams of Guangxi College for Preschool Education on the research of the Standard, as well as a special report on the concept, basis, structure, content, and acquisition of certificates of the Standard’s design.
Through the research on ‘Mutual Recognition of International Occupational Standards in the Field of Early Childhood Health’ in China, they have attempted to construct an international occupational competency standard in the field of children’s health promotion from the perspective of health promotion to meet the needs of non-medical health services. The theory of the standard involves many fields such as pedagogy, psychology, movement human science, rehabilitation medicine, Chinese medicine theory, and many more. Additionally, the skills cover the assessment and development of body shape and posture, physiological function assessment and development, assessment and development of physical mobility, assessment and development of mental development level. Health promotion cognitive enhancement is achieved through individual, family and community pathways, and access to health service demand are made more accurate and convenient by relying on big data and artificial intelligence, making health service provision integrated into lifestyles and accompanying individual health and development as if it were a shadow. Based on the international consensus that scientific exercise is an effective means and method of health promotion in the whole life cycle, it is therefore named ‘physical activities and health accompanist’.
The TVET Innovation Teams of the Guangxi College for Preschool Education organized the ‘International Forum on the Field of Early Childhood Health Promotion’ in 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively, in which the experts and scholars from China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia discussed the theoretical structure of the Standard, the requirements of vocational competence, and the contents of vocational training. Experts and scholars fully discussed the theoretical framework of the Standard, the requirements of vocational competence, and the content of vocational training; representatives of enterprises from Beijing, Xi’an, Chongqing, Shenzhen and other cities in China argued about the prospects for the promotion and application of the Standard. Thus, the International Occupational Standard for Children’s Physical Activity and Health Accompanist is formed based on Artificial Intelligence and Big Data technology, serves the development of non-medical physical activity and health accompanist service industry, and is based on multi-disciplinary theories and technological support, and includes survival life skills, physical activity skills, and self-management skills.
The meeting fully recognized the scientific nature of the Standards system, the application of standards empowered by Big Data and Artificial Intelligence, the professionalism of the definition of occupational competence in physical activity and health promotion, and the feasibility and prospect of implementation of training and promotion, and reached a broad consensus on the authorization of the Sub-Committee on Children’s Health and Development by the ACESS to carry out the training, accreditation and pilot testing of the Standards in China.
The success of this demonstration meeting marks a key step from the development to the application and promotion of the International Occupational Standard for Children’s Physical Activity and Health Accompanist. The officially released standards will be authorized by the ACESS to be applied and promoted by the Sub-Committee on Child Health and Development in cooperation with institutions, research structures, enterprises and other countries in Asia, to provide systematic, scientific and professional guidance on the provision of child health promotion services in Asia. Participating experts and enterprise representatives have high hopes and expectations for the official release of the Standard and its leadership in the new business of children’s health promotion services. The symposium reflects the confidence, ability and responsibility of the ACESS in its commitment to leading scientific research, social services and international cooperation in Asia, as well as its support and trust in the Sub-Committee on Children’s Health and Development. The Standards will become a platform for wider and deeper co-operation among Asian countries in the field of children’s health promotion, which will enable children’s physical activities and health services in the Asian region to step up to a new level and enter a new stage of development.
(From left to right): Mr. WANG Song, A/Prof. SU Yi, Prof. REN Kanku, A/Prof. Dr. Chaipat Lawsirirat, Prof. Dr. LIU Xiaojun, A/Prof. FENG Guangzhi, A/Prof. Dr. HUANG Chenhua, A/Prof. LIANG Jingtian
