An important first step in addressing any public health crisis is raising public awareness. However, getting everyone on board to help solve the underlying causes of that crisis is a daunting task. The childhood obesity epidemic poses such a challenge, particularly in terms of how to best engage and assist principals and other school leaders in…

The purpose of this study was to determine if requiring multiple credits of high school physical education for graduation has an impact on promoting physical activity in young adults. Participants in this study (N=361) were surveyed concerning their high school physical education experiences and current performance of physical activity. Results…

College obesity is increasing, but to the authors' knowledge, no researchers to date have evaluated risk factors in this population. Objective: The authors assessed whether abnormal eating perceptions and behaviors were associated with overweight in college students. Participants and Methods: A sample of undergraduates (N = 4,201) completed an…

Purpose: Researchers know little about the physical performance ability of residential care/assisted living (RC/AL) residents and its relationship to adverse outcomes such as fracture, nursing home placement, functional decline, and death. The purposes of this article are to (a) describe the functional characteristics of RC/AL residents, (b)…

Background: Exercise is important for health and well-being. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of physical training on general well-being and self-image in older people with intellectual disability. Methods: This study evaluated older adults with intellectual disability in residential care in Israel. The concept of well-being…

Background: Lack of physical activity has been noted in breast cancer survivors and been attributed to decreased physical function. Purpose: This study assessed the effects of a moderate-to-vigorous physical exercise program on body fat percentage, maximal oxygen consumption (VO[subscript 2] max), body mass index, and bone mineral density (BMD) of…

General socioeconomic conditions as well as the physical environment have undergone remarkable changes in Hungary during the past 30 years. Unfortunately, these positive processes have resulted in a reduction of habitual physical activity along with unfavorable changes in dietary habits. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to compare…

This paper explores parental concern about children's activity levels and whether parents who are concerned about their child's activity provide a supportive environment. A sample of 615 parents of 5-6-year-old children and 947 parents of 10-12-year-old children completed a questionnaire. Just over 50% of parents reported they were concerned their…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of a six-week intervention that aimed to promote teachers' physical activity level during working hours. Thirty-eight teachers from three intervention schools (schools randomly assigned as intervention group) received intervention prompts: SMS messages, leaflets and posters…

High levels of inactivity in youth have led researchers and practitioners to focus on identifying the factors that influence physical activity behaviors in young people. The present study employed a qualitative ecological framework to examine the intrapersonal, social, and environmental factors influencing youth physical activity. In…

Rates of overweight in youth have reached epidemic proportions and are associated with adverse health outcomes. Family-based programs have been widely used to treat overweight in youth. However, few programs incorporate a theoretical framework for studying a family systems approach in relation to youth health behavior change. Therefore, this…

Arguably, the most important school-based intervention to increase physical activity was Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which led to a 600% increase in girls' sports participation between 1972 and 1978. We studied the effect of this increase in sports participation and athletic opportunities while young on the physical activity and…

The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between traits of creativity in the elderly and their level of physical activity. Another purpose was to determine if there was a relationship between traits of creativity focusing on arousal, sensation-seeking, and playfulness and activity. The study used an ex post facto…

Individuals who engage in regular exercise of varying intensity report significant reduction in anxiety and depression. While most evidence is anecdotal, research has provided support for exercise in depression therapy. (Author/MT)

A questionnaire to measure the activity level of people with visual handicaps was developed which measured "independence" and "difficulty" in performing various activities, "felt loss" in not performing the activities, and "motivation to learn" the activities. (Author/CL)