The state of children's fitness is the responsibility of all who are involved with children. As early childhood professionals, they have a duty to educate the whole (thinking, feeling, "moving") child. Moreover, teachers of preschoolers can be more realistic than parents in their assessment of children's physical inactivity levels, and preschool…

Research shows a decline in physical activity levels during adolescence, particularly among girls. This study explored perceived barriers to participation in moderate and vigorous physical activity among adolescent girls who live in a large ethnoracially and socioeconomically diverse city. A total of 73 adolescent girls in Toronto participated in…

This guide for parents provides information about how they can determine if their child is overweight and what they can do if their child has a weight problem. Replies to many common questions of parents are provided. The issues addressed include: (1) determining whether a child is too fat; (2) assistance that can be provided by health care…

This study examined the effects of participation in an after school physical fitness program emphasizing aerobics on low-fit elementary students. Data were collected on four occasions. The program had a positive impact on field test measures but did not improve body fatness, cardiovascular responses to exercise, and blood lipid profiles. (SM)

Answers teachers' questions about physical fitness, emphasizing children's physical fitness, why people believe children are unfit, children's activity levels, heredity and maturation in fitness testing, test results, adequate fitness, activity, and participation, how long it takes children to get fit, reward systems, current fitness testing, and…

Describes the authors' experiences in jogging together. States that, for them, the act of running became a perceptive starting point or practice for better understanding the world and their place in it. Adds that the running experience also informed the runners' research relationship. (Contains 28 references.) (NB)

This study evaluated a synchronous Internet-delivered intervention (chat room) for improving eating habits and body image in college-age women at risk for developing an eating disorder. Sixty at-risk women (mean age = 18.9, SD = 2.4; 65.0% Caucasian, 19% Latino/Hispanic, 8% Asian/Pacific Islander, 3% African American, 5% other; mean body mass…

A previous case-series evaluation of a six-session guided self-help (GSH) approach with 15 people with bulimia nervosa (BN) showed significant reductions across all measures, including binge eating, self-induced vomiting, weight concern, shape concern and dietary restraint. However, the reduction of binge eating and self-induced vomiting was…

Because body image dissatisfaction is such a pervasive problem in adolescent girls, school counselors need to develop effective prevention programs in this area. In this article, a model to promote girls' body image resilience is presented. The model identifies five protective factors that contribute to girls' abilities to resist sociocultural…

Lower birth weight babies have worse outcomes, both short-run in terms of one year mortality rates and longer run in terms of educational attainment and earnings. However, recent research has called into question whether birth weight itself is important or whether it simply reflects other hard-to-measure characteristics. By applying within twin…

The purpose of this study was to determine if high school females differed in individual measures of health-related physical fitness, barriers to exercise, or activity level based on ethnicity or socioeconomic status. A cross-sectional sample consisting of African American (28%), Hispanic (23%), and white (49%) female high school students, 46%…

A representative sample of 7-14-year-old young people in southeast Brazil (N=1251) was assessed using standardized parent and youth interviews, thereby identifying an "at-risk" group of young people who met one or more DSM-IV criteria for anorexia and/or bulimia nervosa. These young people were compared with an age and gender matched…

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) has been found effective in treating a wide number of psychological conditions affecting adults. To date, however, little research has been done on the use of ACT with youth and parents. Few efforts have been made at summarizing the literature that does exist. This article,…

The politics of body size has been the topic of intriguing feminist work. Although in the author's view this issue is still undertheorized, the author has long sought for a way to bring what "does" exist in the literature into her academic activities. The opportunity arose when, as a graduate student at the University of Michigan in…

Tests the role of blame and ideology in antifat prejudice by comparing attitudes among college students (N=406) in the United States and Mexico. Mexican students were significantly less concerned about their own weight and more accepting of fat people than United States students. Prejudice toward fat people in the United States appears to have a…