There is now a wealth of research on obesity both from biomedical and socially critical perspectives. However, less research has focused on the lived experiences of young children and particularly those who are perceived as 'sedentary'. This paper critically examines the issue of obesity as related to children's experiences of physical…

Family and educational institutions play a decisive role in learning and strengthening habits related to physical activity and health. School has a specific mission in this scope, especially at the first stage of education. Attempting to answer the question of how schools in practice realise these tasks, a study was conducted on the level of…

Background: Schools should provide children 30 minutes/day of moderate-to-vigorous-physical-activity (MVPA). Determining school day segments that contribute to children's MVPA can inform school-based activity promotion. The purpose of this paper was to identify the proportion of children accumulating 30 minutes/day of school-based MVPA, and to…

Introduction: The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States has reached epidemic status with some states with rates as high as 20%. The most effective interventions for combating inactivity target children before inactivity develops in their adolescent years. If effective, school-aged physical activity (PA) interventions would decrease…

As the number of children affected by obesity increases in the United States, it is necessary to intervene with preventive and intervention techniques that will enact change. Because children spend a significant amount of their time in school, it is of particular interest to target strategies during the school day. Given the recommendations for…

Australian youth (5-17) are exhibiting the most alarming statistics surrounding poor physical activity (PA) levels and increasing correlating chronic disease trends (i.e. obesity). With schools well positioned to address such concerns, this study aimed to determine the type, frequency and intensity levels of PA being undertaken by children during…

Background: The rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled during the past 30?years. Research shows that prevention at an early age is more effective than treatment later in life. Energize is a multicomponent intervention incorporated into the school day that combines nutrition education and physical activity aimed at maintaining healthy…

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…

Background: Over the last 3 decades, US obesity rates have increased dramatically as more children and more adults become obese. This study explores an innovative program, Active Generations, an intergenerational nutrition education and activity program implemented in out-of-school environments (after school and summer camps). It utilizes older…

Improving children's nutrition and physical activity have become priorities in the United States. This quasi-experimental study evaluated the longitudinal effects of a 3-year, school-based, health promotion intervention (i.e. nutrition and physical education, classroom physical activity, professional development and health promotion for teachers…

NASPE recommends children ages 5-12 accumulate at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day of the week. With the growing occurrence of obesity in the United States, it is clear that too many of America's youth are not meeting the recommended amount of daily physical activity. Given that America's youth are having…

This case study addresses two major priorities of the Boston Foundation--health and education. Since the 2007 publication of the "Understanding Boston" report "The Boston Paradox: Lots of Health Care, Not Enough Health," the Boston Foundation has worked to draw attention to the epidemic of preventable chronic disease that not…

The purpose of this study was to determine the amount of physical activity in which children engage during physical education classes and factors that mediate their participation. Third and 4th grade students wore pedometers during each 30-min physical education class for one school year. Steps per class were collected daily during structured and…

Previous studies have shown that active consent procedures result in sampling bias in surveys dealing with adolescent risk behaviors such as cigarette smoking and illicit drug use. To examine sampling bias from active consent procedures when the survey topic pertains to childhood obesity and associated health behaviors, the authors pair data…

Fun & Fit is a program designed to create positive physical activity experiences and to promote healthy lifestyle choices among overweight children from low-income African American and Hispanic American families. The program is a collaborative project between Texas Tech University and the Lubbock Independent School District funded through a…