In this era of increasing accountability and high-stakes testing in schools, a serious paradox has surfaced. Children are becoming overweight at an alarming rate, and mounting evidence points to a relationship between obesity and poor school performance. Ironically, pressure to improve children's academic achievement has led many schools to adopt…

This study examined sources of variability in physical activity (PA) of youth with developmental disabilities (DD), and determined the optimal number of days required for monitoring PA. Sixteen youth with DD wore two pedometers and two accelerometers for 9 days, including 5 weekdays (W) and 2 weekends (WK). A two-facet in fully crossed two-way…

Objective: To investigate New Zealand children's understandings of "health". Design: Secondary analysis of student responses to a task called "Being Healthy" in New Zealand's National Education Monitoring Project. Setting: Year 4 (8-9 year-old) and Year 8 (12-13 year-old) students who took part in New Zealand's National…

Given the commitment (and funding) by the British government to promote physical activity among all ages, and despite the inevitable political manipulation of physical education (PE) and school sport, there is now an ideal opportunity to focus on primary schools as a key target group for the future. This study determined the physical activity…

With increasing demands placed on academic achievement and limited time during the school day, school administrators struggle to implement daily physical education for all students. As this trend becomes more prevalent, community-based organizations need to come forward to offer more after school and weekend programs to assist youth in achieving…

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) suggest at least 30 min of moderate physical activity at least 5 days a week or 20 min of vigorous physical activity at least 3 days a week. The overall aim of this experiment was to evaluate the efficacy of a web-based intervention--one that relied on…

The purpose of this investigation was to examine overweight students' perceptions of and experiences in physical education. Specifically, the applicability of learned helplessness as a framework to understand their experiences was explored. Participants were seven female and five male high school students whose body mass index was at or higher…

This study examined change in binge eating symptoms reported by moderately overweight adolescents following participation in a behavioral weight control intervention. A total of 194 adolescents across two randomized controlled trials participated. Adolescents in both study samples endorsed a mild level of binge eating symptoms at baseline. Results…

Problem: Priority health-risk behaviors, which are behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among youth and adults, often are established during childhood and adolescence, extend into adulthood, and are interrelated and preventable. Reporting Period Covered: September 2008-December 2009. Description of the…

Whether in health, in education, or in material well-being, some children will always fall behind the average. The critical question is -- how far behind? Is there a point beyond which falling behind is not inevitable but policy susceptible, not unavoidable but unacceptable, not inequality but inequity? There are no widely agreed theoretical…

Joe L. Frost is Parker Centennial Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas, Austin, and one of America's leading experts on play and playgrounds. In addition to having taught child development and early childhood education at Texas and several other universities, he has written or edited fifteen university-level textbooks and more than one…

Low levels of physical activity among adolescent girls are a cause for concern. Examining girls' physical activity perceptions and motivations through in-depth qualitative research allows for greater understanding of the reasons behind their physical activity-related choices. Forty-seven girls aged 14 to 16 years participated in exploratory focus…

The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale and suggestions for emphasizing health-related physical education in preschool settings. In order to accomplish this, it will examine what is currently known about early childhood physical activity, as well as the existing professional preparation and accreditation standards for early childhood…

This article describes the results of a study that helped determine common barriers to active commuting to and from school, as well as the results of a Walking School Bus program that was implemented at two neighborhood elementary schools in Nebraska. While parental perceived barriers to active commuting may influence the travel choices of…

Background: The School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) questionnaire was developed as a surveillance instrument to measure physical activity, nutrition attitudes, and dietary and physical activity behaviors in children and adolescents. The SPAN questionnaire has 2 versions. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the validity of…