Many adolescents lack the requisite physical preparation for sport participation and PA. Multi-sport participation and resistance training during youth (age 5-11) and adolescence (age 12-17) years can positively affect physical activity levels, health outcomes, and promote long-term athletic development (LTAD). The National Strength and…

This paper describes several practical activities that reveal how complex and nonlinear pedagogies might underpin primary physical education and school sport lessons. These sample activities, involving track and field, tennis and netball components, are designed to incorporate states of stability and instability through the modification of task…

Adventure-physical education has been proposed to promote adolescents' physical development, but little is known about physical activity levels during such lessons. Using the System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time, we observed students' (ages 11-14 years) physical activity levels in co-educational classes during 43 adventure-physical…

It cannot be denied that urban youths are underserved in almost every way one could imagine, especially in health care and education funding. Furthermore, the lack of these cornerstones is likely to be perpetuated unless everyone chips in what they can to stymie poverty's impact. As a profession, we claim to be able to make a difference in the…

This Digest discusses the importance of and ways to foster activity and exercise in children. Following an introduction, the Digest is organized into four sections. The first section deals with the significant health benefits of physical activity, including: reduction in chronic disease risk; lowered risk of colon cancer; increase in bone density;…

A significant relationship exists between a person's body concept and his general self-concept. Physical educators need to be more concerned with the development of the body concept in children. Understanding how the growth process affects performance ability can help the teacher plan activities based on individual readiness factors. (JN)

This booklet gives parents suggestions for helping their children's motor development by careful selection of physical activities and sports from birth through the teen years. In each of three sections, comprising birth to five years, six to twelve years, and the teen years, brief introductory passages discuss skill development and give specific…

The physical fitness status of children ages 6-12 is the topic of discussion in this monograph. The publication is organized into 4 major sections and 17 chapters. The first section, "An Introduction to Childhood Fitness," includes 3 chapters: (1) Status of Physical Fitness in U.S. Children; (2) The Public Health Perspective:…

An abundance of research relative to physical fitness and, more generally, physical education of school children, has surfaced during the past few years. Negative aspects of health and physical fitness are increasing year by year, and further evidence suggests that academic performance is negatively affected by low levels of fitness. A survey was…