Background: Preventing overweight and improving physical fitness in primary school children is a worldwide challenge, and physically active intervention programs usually come with the cost of academic instruction time. This study aimed to investigate effects of physically active academic lessons on body mass index (BMI) and physical fitness in…

Background: This study examined the association between physical fitness and academic achievement and determined the influence of socioeconomic status (SES) on the association between fitness and academic achievement in school-aged youth. Methods: Overall, 1,701 third-, sixth-, and ninth-grade students from 5 school districts participated in the…

This article offers a brief and personal account of the historical background, implementation and principal findings from the Trois-Rivieres regional project, a large-scale quasi-experimental intervention that tested the impact of providing a daily hour of specialist-taught quality physical education upon the physical and mental development of…

This paper is based on qualitative research data from a project investigating early childhood boys' constructions of masculinities in relation to sport, health and the body. The focus group data, with 33 boys, has been collected in each of the boys' first three years at school. It is part of the data that will be collected over eight years with…

Background: Rural children are at a particular high risk for obesity. Given the importance of exercise in obesity and chronic disease prevention, this study evaluated the level and relationship between physical activity and fitness in a sample of rural third graders. The second purpose of the study was to determine potential differences in…

Approximately 100 years ago, Clark Hetherington articulated the primary aims of physical education by identifying four separate areas: (1) psychomotor, which refers to motor skills; (2) organic, the fitness factor; (3) intellectual, or the cognitive component; and (4) character which refers to the affective domain. These categories can be used to…

This article provides an overview of medicine ball training. Specifically, it describes "Medicine Ball for All," a physical activity program designed to provide children and teenagers with a meaningful learning experience that is consistent with their developmental needs. The article focuses on developing a safe, successful, and inexpensive…