Purpose: A vertical jump (VJ) is a common task performed in several sports, with the height achieved correlated to skilled performance. Loaded VJs are often used in the training of recreational and professional athletes. The bilateral deficit (BLD), which refers to the difference between the heights achieved by a bilateral jump and the sum of two…

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to identify the contribution of nutrition, physical activity (PA), and total energy intake and expenditure on body weight and composition in adolescents. Methods: Body composition, PA, and dietary intakes from 904 Greek adolescents (446 boys and 458 girls; Age: 14.6 ± 1.5 yrs), were evaluated. All…

Purpose: This study aims to analyze changes in Maximum Inspiratory Pressure (MIP), lung function, cardiorespiratory fitness, and blood pressure, in 10 healthy active elderly women, following 7 weeks of inspiratory muscle training (IMT) combined with a multicomponent training program (MCTP). The association among these health parameters, their…

Purpose: This study examined the prevalence of different weight status and the relationships between weight status and physical fitness among Chinese children and youth. Methods: Participants were 107,206 Grade 4 children and 70,213 Grade 8 youth from the China National Assessment of Educational Quality -- Physical Education & Health in 2015…

Purpose: In youth, cross-sectional studies reported age differences in balance performance that were in favor of adolescents. Thus, trainability of balance performance might be different in children compared to adolescents. The purpose of this study was therefore to compare the effects of balance training (BT) on balance performance between…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to analyze tracking and stability of motor coordination in children from age 6 years to ages 9 and 13 years. Method: Data were from the Copenhagen School Child Intervention Study. Motor coordination (MC) was measured using the körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK) test. The crude performance score on every…

This review examines the influence of dehydration on muscular strength and endurance and on single and repeated anaerobic sprint bouts. Describing hydration effects on anaerobic performance is difficult because various exercise modes are dominated by anaerobic energy pathways, but still contain inherent physiological differences. The critical…

Purpose: This prospective study was designed to evaluate psychometric properties of the Activity Choice Index (ACI), a measure for assessing one's choice to engage in more effortful, physically active behaviors in the course of daily routines over less-demanding, sedentary behaviors, in a sample of overweight women. Method: The sample included 192…

Purpose: This study examined agreement between all 3 standards (as well as relative diagnostic associations with metabolic syndrome) using a representative sample of youth from the Hungarian National Youth Fitness Study. Method: Body mass index (BMI) was assessed in a field sample of 2,352 adolescents (ages 10-18.5 years) and metabolic syndrome…

Growth, maturation, and development dominate the daily lives of children and adolescents for approximately the first 2 decades of life. Growth and maturation are biological processes, while development is largely a behavioral process. The 3 processes occur simultaneously and interact. They can be influenced by physical activity and also can…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between motor proficiency and body mass index (BMI) in preschool children. Thirty-eight children ages 4-6 years had their BMI calculated and were assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2; Henderson, Sugden, & Barnett, 2007). These data were analyzed in two…

The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the authors wanted to examine the associations of motor proficiency and body composition in children with and without dyslexia. They hypothesized there would be a negative relationship between body composition (measured by body mass index [BMI]) and motor proficiency (measured by MABC [Movement…

Purpose: Identification of factors that relate to physical activity behavior in children at higher risk for weight problems--namely, children with obese parents--is key to informing the development of effective interventions to promote physical activity and reduce obesity. The purpose of our study was to examine children's perceptions of parental…

The single most commonly reported physical activity in public health surveys is walking. As evidence accumulates that walking is important for preventing weight gain and reducing the risk of diabetes, there is increased need to capture this behavior in a valid and reliable manner. Although the disadvantages of a self-report methodology are well…

This study aimed to explore relations between chronically accessible outcomes in physical activity and scaled measures of motivational orientations from a self-determination perspective. Methods from construct and attitude accessibility research and the Levesque and Pelletier (2003) study were used to identify participants' chronically accessible…