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1. National strategy(ies)

2. Promoting and supporting sport and physical activity among young people

3. Physical education in schools

4. Collaboration and partnerships

National strategy(ies)

One of the topics of the Government's youth health strategy #Young people health – the Norwegian Government’s strategy for young people’s health 2016 – 2021 [#Ungdomshelse – regjeringens strategi for ungdomshelse 2016-2021] is related to sports and recreation with the following goals:

• All children and adolescents should, regardless of socioeconomic bacground, have the opportunity to participate in at least one organized sports/recreational activity with others
• Limit youth sports dropouts 
• Create healthy sports arenas for both girls and boys - through dietary knowledge and sports nutrition, changing attitudes to eating disorders in sports and reducing incidences of eating disorders among young athletes.

One of the measures in White Paper 15 (2022–2023) on Public Health [Folkehelsemeldinga — Nasjonal strategi for utjamning av sosiale helseforskjellar] is to draw up a national plan for sports facilities with the aim of achieving increased participation and accessibility, especially for children and young people.

Promoting and supporting sport and physical activity among young people

The Directorate of Health has developed national guidelines on Physical activity with specific recommendations for children and adolescents. The guidelines include national recommendations, information about the evidence base for the recommendations and practical information about how the recommendations can be implemented.

The ‘Recreation Declaration’ [Fritidserklæringen] is a collaborative effort between municipalities, the voluntary sector and top-level authorities  to ensure that all children, regardless of their parents' social and financial situation, have the opportunity to participate regularly in at least one organized recreational activity with other children.

Physical education in schools

Physical education and sports are incorporated into the national curricula, is mandatory, and taught as a separate subject. Physical education is meant to ‘help pupils acquire knowledge about exercise and training, lifestyle and health, and motivate them to have an active life and continue physical training into adulthood.’ (Directorate for Teaching and Training, KRO01-04/purpose).

Teaching hours are given in 60-minute units, 223 hours in lower secondary school and 56 hours in upper secondary school for both general studies (except the programme for music dance and drama) and vocational education programmes.

Pedagogical tools and support provided to teachers responsible for physical education include the following:

• The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training (Udir) provides some pedagogical tools and support through their website where acquired skills and recommended tests and approaches are reviewed.
• The Norwegian National Centre for Food, Health and Physical Activity [Nasjonalt senter for mat, helse og fysisk aktivitet] is one of several national centres under The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, and The Ministry of Education and Research, and runs a resource platform dedicated to physical education and outdoor leisure activity.
• The Norwegian Digital Learning Arena is a joint enterprise operating on behalf of the county councils in Norway. Its aim is to develop and publish high quality, internet-based open educational resources (OER) in subjects taught at upper secondary school level and make these freely available. The Norwegian Digital Learning Arena offers pedagogical tools and support through their platform: Nasjonal digital læringsarena – NDLA Kroppsøving.

Collaboration and partnerships

The aforementioned ‘Recreation Declaration’ [Fritidserklæringen] is a collaborative effort between municipalities, the voluntary sector and top-level authorities  to among other things promote physical activity among children and young people.