23 9-year-old children were observed for 14 weeks in a 1993 study. Classroom behaviour (i.e., task relevant behaviour on standardised seat work immediately before and after playtime) and playground behaviour (i.e., social and non-social exercise and sedentary behaviour) were observed. Time in classroom before playtime was manipulated so that there was a shorter and a longer confinement period. Results indicated that children were less attentive to seat work as a function of time and that longer confinement resulted in more exercise for boys and more social sedentary behaviour for girls. Social behaviour at playtime and post-playtime attention to seat work were significantly related.
Archive for category Physical Activity
133 boys and girls were studied for one year in sixth and seventh grade. Measures of children’s preference for the playground, the duration of their stay outdoors, and behaviors while outdoors were obtained through direct observational methods. Additionally, teachers’ rated children’s level of achievement, physical attractiveness, and facility in games. Results indicated that boys’, compared to girls’, preference to play outdoors existed only in sixth grade.
1747 adults answered 2 open-ended questions about cancer and heart disease risk factors. Awareness of lifestyle risk factors was low for both diseases, although higher for heart disease than cancer. Public awareness of the links might help people understand the potential health consequences of their actions and encourage them to make much-needed lifestyle changes.
This study prospectively investigated the association between physical activity and esophageal and gastric carcinoma in a cohort of 487,732 U.S. men and women, followed from 1995/96 to December 31, 2003. Physical activity was associated with reduced risk of esophageal and gastric adenocarcinomas but was unrelated to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Physical activity may play a role in the prevention of upper gastrointestinal tract adenocarcinomas. No association was seen between physical activity and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
Yale researchers discusses the ACS nutrition and physical activity recommendations for cancer survivors. Observational data strongly indicate that obesity, weight gain, and physical inactivity are adverse prognostic factors. Randomized trials of lifestyle interventions in survivors are also very limited at present. The limited available evidence to date suggests that physicians should be familiar with current guidelines and discuss them with their patients as an important strategy to improve long-term survival.
Children with good object control skills are more likely to become fit adolescents. Fundamental motor skill development in childhood may be an important component of interventions aiming to promote long-term fitness.
Physucal activity at 10 unrenovated and 10 renovated school playgrounds in Cleveland, OH were observed using SOPLAY. Each school was observed ten times for 90 min each time outside of school hours in 2005. This study suggests that playgrounds renovations may have the potential to increase the number of children utilizing the playground outside of school hours and may increase the proportion of children, especially boys, who are vigorously active.
A vigorous 60-minute workout on a treadmill affects the release of two key appetite hormones, while 90 minutes of weight lifting affects the level of only ghrelin. The research shows that aerobic exercise is better at suppressing appetite than nonaerobic exercise and provides a possible explanation for how that happens. This line of research may eventually lead to more effective ways to use exercise to help control weight.
176 boys and 169 girls aged 8-9 years old took part in a longitudinal study of associations between eating behaviours, PA and weight gain during childhood. Height, weight and waist circumference were measured, and PA data were collected using an Actigraph worn for 5 consecutive days. In boys, physical activity was progressively lower across the weight spectrum, but in girls physical activity was consistently low across all weight categories. Intervention is required prior to 8 years old to prevent weight-related declines in physical activity in boys and further research is required to determine at what age, if ever, weight related differences in physical activity are apparent in girls.
In California, children from low-income households are nearly three times more likely to be obese as children from affluent households, according to a new UCLA report. Statewide, 21 percent of teens living in low-income families are obese, researchers said, compared to eight percent of teens from more affluent families. The researchers blamed the disparity in obesity on a higher intake of sugary soda and fast food, fewer opportunities to participate in organized sports, more television watched, and less general physical activity. High numbers of fast-food restaurants and low numbers of parks in poorer neighborhoods contribute to the problem, they said. “Our neighborhoods are literally making us fat,” said Susan H. Babey, one of the policy brief’s authors. “We need better strategies and more thoughtful urban planning if we’re going to make our towns and cities livable, not just places where we live.”