Background: Schools are important venues for providing and promoting physical activity, but little is known about how school websites are being used for these purposes. Completing a content analysis of existing school websites is essential to understanding their function and value relative to supporting physical education (PE) and physical…

Studies of Jewish day schools' websites regarding opportunities for students to engage in physical activity (PA) have not been published. We analyzed the content of 516 North American Jewish day schools' websites in 237 cities to ascertain mentions of sports (i.e., interscholastic) and PAs (e.g., intramural sports, PA clubs) and to determine how…

Purpose: An objective database for physical education (PE) is important for policy and practice decisions, and the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time (SOFIT) has been identified as an appropriate surveillance tool for PE across the nation. The purpose of this review was to assess peer-reviewed studies using SOFIT to study K-12 PE in…

Purpose: Interscholastic, intramural, and club physical activity (PA) programs can be important contributors to student PA accrual at schools. Few studies have assessed factors related to the provision of these extracurricular PA programs, especially in private schools. Methods: We used a 16-item questionnaire to assess the associations and…

In "Physical Education Teacher Effectiveness in a Public Health Context," we took a broad view of physical education (PE) teacher effectiveness that included public health need and support for PE. Public health officials have been consistent and fervent in their support of PE, and for more than two decades, they have called on schools to…

The health benefits of physical activity are well documented, and the important role that schools and physical education (PE) can play in reducing sedentary behavior and contributing to population health has been identified. Although effective teaching is ultimately judged by student achievement, a major component of teacher and school…

The 1991 paper, "Physical Education's Role in Public Health" described the importance of physical education in addressing public health problems. On its 20th anniversary, this article reviews accomplishments in improving the health impact of physical education and identifies areas lacking progress. Major accomplishments include development of…

School playtime (recess) provides children an opportunity to engage in a range of active and sedentary play behaviors on a daily basis. However, little data have investigated changes in playtime behaviors over time. The aim of this study was to investigate how children's physical activity levels, the size of their social group, play behaviors and…

Direct (systematic) observation has been a mainstay of my research for over three decades. I believe it is an important tool for assessing physical activity, because it can simultaneously provide contextually rich data on the setting in which the activity occurs. It is particularly useful for those interested in using ecological and…

Comprehensive School Physical Activity Programs (CSPAP) are designed to provide expanded opportunities for physical activity beyond regularly scheduled physical education time-including before, during, and after school, as well as at home and in the community. While CSPAPs are gaining support, currently there are no models for designing,…

Background: Little is known about children's leisure-time physical activity (PA) at school and how it is associated with contextual variables. The purpose of this study was to objectively assess children's voluntary PA during 3 daily periods and examine modifiable contextual factors. Methods: We conducted SOPLAY (System for Observing Play and…

Part 1 of this article, which appeared in the April 2013 of JOPERD, presented the theoretical foundation and evidence-based needs for a main-theme curriculum model called Health Optimizing Physical Education (HOPE) for schools. It also described eight strands that could be used to plan, implement, and assess this version of a comprehensive school…

School physical education plays an important role in public health. Nonetheless, there are few evidence-based, health-related, physical education programs and very little is known about how to disseminate them for widespread use. This article (a) presents background information and a review of the completed research on the SPARK (Sports, Play, and…

Physical inactivity is a serious public health problem that is associated with numerous preventable diseases. Public health concerns, particularly those related to the increased prevalence of overweight, obesity, and diabetes, call for schools to become proactive in the promotion of healthy, physically active lifestyles. This article begins by…

This study compared physical education (PE) and recess in two markedly different special schools for children with mild intellectual disabilities; one school had a reputation for focusing on sports (High Sport Focus-HSF) and the other did not (Low Sport Focus-LSF). Data were collected in 24 PE classes and 48 recess periods using a validated…