ABSTRACT
The majority of health research comes from high-income countries in Europe, North America and Australasia despite the concentration of the world's population in Asian and African low- and middle-income countries. Although this includes diverse populations within the local contexts, the evidence generated is not always globally transferrable. Specifically, low-income populations within high-income countries have inherently different socioecological characteristics to the norms observed in low-income countries and may benefit from different health promotion strategies. Similarly, the report of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory indicates that there are geographical differences in health priorities that may not be captured by examining culturally and environmentally diverse populations in countries with large research outputs. Despite progress in global physical activity surveillance and the development of the Global Observatory for Physical Activity, the recently established Country Report Cards indicate that high-income countries continue to produce the majority of physical activity research publications and researchers.
