Background
Studies of the effects of environmental interventions on physical activity should include valid measures of physical activity before and after the intervention. Baseline data collection can be difficult when the timetable for introduction of an intervention is outside researchers' control. This paper reports and reflects on the practical issues, ...
Objective
The objective of this study was to identify school environmental characteristics associated with moderate to vigorous physical activity during school recess, including morning and lunch breaks.
Methods
Accelerometry data, child-level characteristics and school physical activity, policy and socio-cultural data were collected from 408 sixth grade children (mean age 11 years) attending 27 ...
Background
Early childhood provides a window of opportunity for the promotion of physical activity. Given the limited effectiveness of interventions to date, new approaches are needed. Socio-ecological models suggest that involving parents as intervention targets may be effective in fostering healthier lifestyles in children. This study describes the effectiveness of ...
Background
The physical activity (PA) levels of many children and adolescents in Australia are currently insufficient to promote health benefits. Physical education (PE) programs aim to promote PA and reach nearly all school-aged children, but PA levels within PE lessons are often low. PE teachers may influence children's motivation to ...
Summary
Physical activity declines as children enter puberty.
Leptin is cross-sectionally associated with physical activity, but there are conflicting findings on the magnitude and direction of this association.
Leptin concentrations fluctuate during puberty, and may impact energy balance.
Leptin predicts the decline in physical activity during the start of puberty ...
Background
Physical activity interventions in schools environment seem to have shown some effectiveness in the control of the current obesity epidemic in children. However the complexity of behaviors and the diversity of influences related to this problem suggest that we urgently need new lines of insight about how to support ...
High physical fitness in childhood and adolescence is positively associated with favourable health-related outcomes. Our aim was to examine the relationship between relatives' (father, mother, brother, sister, and best friend) physical activity engagement and encouragement on adolescents' physical fitness. Adolescents were part of the HELENA study, a multi-centre study conducted ...
Introduction
Participation in physical activity on a regular basis is important for maintaining health, yet many people do not meet the levels recommended by scientific and health organizations. Physical activity behavior during the late adolescence/early college period in life is of particular importance as behaviors adopted during this time ...
Introduction
School-based interventions which include efforts to increase physical activity (PA) may promote a healthy weight development in adolescents, but results are inconsistent (Brown et al., 2009). One possible explanation for low efficacy or effectiveness is limited evidence as to how interventions induce behaviour change (Baranowski et al., 2005). The purpose of ...
Introduction
There is much interest in children’s physical activity (PA), but little understanding of its control. The evidence that total activity levels could be increased by the provision of greater opportunity for physical activity is lacking.
Methods and Participants
MTI-Actigraph accelerometers recorded weekly PA in two groups of healthy ...