The ALPHA project focuses on developing an overall assessment methodology for measuring physical activity (PA) levels at the population level and help address existing barriers to PA.

Sustained moderate levels of personal PA are known to have positive effects on the health of the population and combat obesity in all age groups, which is one of the key priorities of the 2006 public health programme.

The project focuses on understanding actual population activity levels and the key factors affecting it; it identifies a number of key factors and cross-cutting themes that relate to the achievement and enablement of sustained moderate PA levels, such as the urban environment, transport-related physical activity, the workplace
and health-related fitness. In order to address the gap that has been identified in making available comparable information about PA in all Member States, the methods and means put forward by the project are to:
develop and test instruments (questionnaires and questionnaire modules) to assess comparable physical activity levels in European Member States;
develop and test instruments and methods/procedures (accelerometry, GIS data analysis) to assess levels of transport-related physical activity and urban environmental promoters or barriers to physical activity;
determine a European test for assessing health-related fitness (HRF) as a reliable key health indicator.

An instrument to assess physical activity in European Member States (based on the version of the international physical activity questionnaire An instrument to assess physical activity in European Member States (based on the version of the international physical activity questionnaire — IPAQ).
Recommendations on how to monitor levels of physical activity in children.
Standard operating procedure for the use of accelerometry to objectively monitor physical activity at population level.
A questionnaire module for monitoring urban environment features related to physical activity.
A questionnaire module for monitoring work-related physical activity.
A questionnaire module for monitoring physical activity related to active transportation.