Associations between demographic characteristics and physical activity practices in Nevada schools

Schools are important settings for not only providing and promoting children's physical activity (PA) but also for reducing PA disparities. We investigated associations between school-level demographic characteristics (racial/ethnic and socioeconomic composition, urban-rural status, and student-to-teacher ratio) and 16 PA-promoting practices in 347 Nevada public elementary, middle, and high schools in 2014. We found that low-cost and easy-to-implement practices are most prevalent. There is relative demographic equity in ten of 16 PA practices and significant differences in six PA practices in Nevada schools. Schools with comparatively larger percentages of Black students are the most disadvantaged, as they have the fewest PA-supportive practices in place. Higher percent black was associated with lower odds of providing classroom activity breaks (AOR=0.632, 95% CI=0.453-0.881) and bike racks (AOR=0.60, 95% CI=0.362-0.996), greater odds of withholding recess/PE for disciplinary reasons (AOR=1.377, 95% CI=1.006-1.885), and lower odds of having recess supervisors who are trained to promote PA (AOR=0.583, 95% CI=0.374-0.909). Schools with greater percentages of Hispanic students have lower odds of providing before-school PA programs (AOR=0.867, 95% CI=0.761-0.987), whereas schools with greater percentages of low-SES students have greater odds of providing after-school PA programs (AOR=1.135, 95% CI=1.016-1.268). Higher student-to-teacher ratio was also associated with greater odds of providing after-school PA programs (AOR=1.135, 95% CI=1.016-1.268). Urban-rural status was unrelated to all PA practices.

PETE Doctoral Institutions: Programs, Faculty, and Doctoral Students

PURPOSE

The present study of doctoral physical education teacher education (D-PETE) programs was part of a longitudinal study that provided an extensive description of demographics including: (a) doctoral program characteristics, (b) faculty, and (c) doctoral students/graduates.

METHOD

This trend study incorporated 3 data sets (2005-2006, 2008-2009, and 2011-2012) that described the characteristics of D-PETE programs. Academic heads of D-PETE programs provided demographic information on their doctoral students, faculty, and institutional characteristics for the 2005-2006, 2008-2009, and 2011-2012 academic years and selected summary data from 1996-1997 through 2011-2012.

RESULTS/CONCLUSION

As a result of this longitudinal data collection, the following trends were revealed. First, there was a decrease in the number of D-PETE programs and an increase of nontenured and part-time pedagogy faculty. Second, initial teacher licensure programs remained in existence at the vast majority of D-PETE programs. Third, funding for doctoral students at D-PETE programs was decreasing. Fourth, racial composition of doctoral graduates and current doctoral students remained largely skewed toward Caucasians. Fifth, there was a slight decline in the percentage of doctoral graduates entering higher education, but employment rates were exceptionally high. Sixth, non-U.S. doctoral students and ABDs were marketable in the United States.

How can schools help youth increase physical activity? An economic analysis comparing school-based programs

OBJECTIVE

For optimal health, physical activity should be an integral and routine part of daily life. Youth spend a significant amount of time at school yet rarely achieve the recommended 60 min of moderate and vigorous physical activity in physical education (PE) classes or recess. This study assessed the following types of school-based opportunities to improve physical activity for youth: after-school programs, before-school programs, PE classes, extended-day PE, and short physical activity breaks during the school day.

METHOD

An economic analysis conducted in 2013 compared school-based approaches to increasing physical activity. Analysis factors included costs, reach, effects on physical activity gains, cost-effectiveness, and other potentially augmenting benefits.

RESULTS

Two programs were significantly superior in terms of reach and cost per student: (1) extending the school day with mandatory PE participation and (2) offering short (10-minute) physical activity breaks during regular classroom hours. After-school program costs per student are high and the programs have a smaller reach, but they offer benefits (such as childcare) that may justify their higher costs. Before-school programs did not appear feasible.

CONCLUSION

Incorporating short physical activity breaks into the existing school day would be a cost-effective way to increase school-based activity. This type of program is inexpensive and has broad reach. Inserting activity breaks throughout the day is appropriate, especially when youth are otherwise largely sedentary.

Socioeconomic disparities in elementary school practices and children's physical activity during school

PURPOSE

To examine school socioeconomic status (SES) in relation to school physical activity-related practices and children's physical activity.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional design was used for this study.

SETTING

The study was set in 97 elementary schools (63% response rate) in two U.S. regions.

SUBJECTS

Of the children taking part in this study, 172 were aged 10.2 (standard deviation (SD) = 1.5) years; 51.7% were girls, and 69.2% were White non-Hispanic.

MEASURES

School physical education (PE) teachers or principals responded to 15 yes/no questions on school physical activity-supportive practices. School SES (low, moderate, high) was derived from the percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. Children's moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) during school was measured with accelerometers.

ANALYSIS

School level analyses involved linear and logistic regression; children's MVPA analyses used mixed effects regression.

RESULTS

Low-SES schools were less likely to have a PE teacher and had fewer physical activity-supportive PE practices than did high-SES schools (p < .05). Practices related to active travel to school were more favorable at low-SES schools (p < .05). Children attending high-SES schools had 4.4 minutes per day more of MVPA during school than did those at low-SES schools, but this finding was not statistically significant (p = .124).

CONCLUSION

These findings suggest that more low- and moderate-SES elementary schools need PE teachers in order to reduce disparities in school physical activity opportunities and that PE time needs to be supplemented by classroom teachers or other staff to meet guidelines.

Costs of implementing and maintaining comprehensive school health: the case of the Annapolis Valley Health Promoting Schools program

OBJECTIVE

Comprehensive school health (CSH) is increasingly receiving renewed interest as a strategy to improve health and learning. The present study estimates the costs associated with implementing and maintaining CSH.

METHODS

We reviewed the accounting information of all schools in the Annapolis Valley Health Promoting Schools (AVHPS) program in 2008/2009. We considered support for nutrition and physical activity programs by the public system, grants, donations, fundraising and volunteers.

RESULTS

The annual public funding to AVHPS to implement and maintain CSH totaled $344,514, which translates, on average, to $7,830 per school and $22.67 per student. Of the public funding, $140,500 was for CSH, $86,250 for breakfast programs, $28,750 for school food policy programs, and the remainder for other subsidized programs. Grants, donations and fundraising were mostly locally acquired. They totaled $127,235, which translates, on average, to $2,892 per school or $8.37 per student. The value of volunteer support was estimated to be equivalent to the value of grants, donations and fundraising combined. Of all grants, donations, fundraising and volunteers, 20% was directed to physical activity programs and 80% to nutrition programs.

DISCUSSION

The public costs to implement and maintain CSH are modest. They leveraged substantial local funding and in-kind contributions, underlining community support for healthy eating and active living. Where CSH is effective in preventing childhood overweight, it is most likely cost-effective too, as costs for future chronic diseases are mounting. CSH programs that are proven effective and cost-effective have enormous potential for broad implementation and for reducing the public health burden associated with obesity.

National plan for physical activity: education sector

BACKGROUND

Schools must play a central role in combating the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and youths. This cannot be achieved without more robust policy and funding programs at both federal and state levels.

METHODS

Reviews of meta-analyses were used to assess the efficacy of improving PA/MVPA through interventions in school physical education programs. Individual research studies were reviewed to assess the efficacy of improving PA/MVPA in preschool settings, recess, and classroom activity breaks. Legislation at the federal and state levels was reviewed along with surveillance and accountability mechanisms at the state level.

RESULTS

Physical education interventions produce improvements in PA/MVPA if protocols relating to use of time are followed. PA/MVPA in recess can be increased through careful planning for attractive activity opportunities on carefully designed playgrounds. Classroom activity breaks provide important PA/MVPA daily and improve student on-task behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

Federal legislation is needed to provide guidelines and financial support for states to improve the quantity and quality of PA in school programs. States need to develop clear expectations for quantity and quality of PA programs in schools, surveillance systems to monitor district compliance in meeting those expectations, and an accountability system aimed at ensuring that state expectations are being met with assistance for districts that do not meet expectations.

Academic incentives for students can increase participation in and effectiveness of a physical activity program

The authors sought to determine whether a greater academic incentive would improve the effectiveness and student adherence to a 12-week voluntary exercise program designed to decrease students' percentage of body fat. They randomly assigned 210 students to 1 of 2 groups with different academic reward structures. The group with the greater reward structure showed better exercise adherence and lost more body fat than those without the additional incentive. These findings suggest that an academic incentive can increase overall student adherence to a voluntary exercise program and can boost the effectiveness of the program in a university environment. The findings also have potential implications for on-campus promotion of physical activity.

An economic evaluation of a proprioceptive balance board training programme for the prevention of ankle sprains in volleyball

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the cost effectiveness of a proprioceptive balance board training programme for the prevention of ankle sprains in volleyball.

METHODS

A total of 116 volleyball teams participated in this study which was carried out during the 2001-2002 volleyball season. Teams were randomly allotted to an intervention group (66 teams, 628 players) or a control group (52 teams, 494 players). Intervention teams followed a prescribed balance board training programme as part of their warm up. Control teams followed their normal training routine. An ankle sprain was recorded if it occurred as a result of volleyball and caused the subject to stop volleyball activity. The injured player completed a cost diary for the duration of the ankle sprain. Analyses were performed according to the intention to treat principle. Mean direct, indirect, and total costs were calculated and were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

The total costs per player (including the intervention material) were significantly higher in the intervention group (36.99 (93.87)) than in the control group (18.94 (147.09)). The cost of preventing one ankle sprain was approximately 444.03. Sensitivity analysis showed that a proprioceptive balance board training programme aimed only at players with previous ankle sprains could be cost effective over a longer period of time.

CONCLUSIONS

Positive effects of the balance board programme could only be achieved at certain costs. However, if broadly implemented, costs associated with the balance board programme would probably be lower.

A Comparison of the Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness of 3 Intervention Strategies for AIDS Wasting

OBJECTIVE

To compare oxandrolone (OX) or strength training with nutrition alone (NA) for AIDS wasting.

SUBJECTS

Fifty patients with AIDS; 47 completing the study.

INTERVENTIONS

Randomization to (1) NA with placebo pills, (2) nutrition with 10 mg of OX administered orally twice a day, or (3) nutrition with progressive resistance training (PRT) for 12 weeks.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Midthigh cross-sectional muscle area (CSMA), physical functioning (PF), costs, and cost-effectiveness in dollars/quality-adjusted life-years (dollars/QALYs).

RESULTS

The OX and PRT subjects had increases in CSMA (7.0% +/- 2.5%, P = 0.01; 5.0% +/- 2.0%, P = 0.04, respectively), although these increases did not differ significantly from the NA arm (NA: 1.0% +/- 1.0%; OX vs. NA: P = 0.09; PRT vs. NA: P = 0.26). Only PRT caused significant improvements in PF (mean +/- SE: 10.4 +/- 3.8 points on a 100-point scale) and 7 measures of strength (P values: 0.04 to <0.001). There were no overall differences between groups in PF change. Among patients with impaired baseline PF, however, OX was significantly less effective than NA and PRT was significantly better than NA. All treatments led to increases in protein intake and performance; NA and PRT also increased caloric intake. The institutional costs per subject in this trial were 983 dollars for NA, 3772 dollars for OX, and 3189 dollars for PRT. At a community-based level of intensity, the institutional costs per QALY were 45,000 dollars (range: 42,000 dollars-64,000 dollars) for NA, 147,000 dollars (range: 147,000 dollars-163,000 dollars) for OX, and 31,000 dollars (range: 21,000 dollars-44,000 dollars) for PRT.

CONCLUSIONS

OX and PRT induce similar improvements in body composition, but PRT improves quality of life more than nutrition or OX, particularly among patients with impaired PF. PRT was the most cost-effective intervention, and OX was the least cost-effective intervention.

A lifetime of campaigning: Ettie Rout, emancipationist beyond the pale

H.G. Wells called her 'that unforgettable heroine'. But she was forgotten, most particularly in New Zealand, where she was banned from mention in the newspapers under the War Regulations for her 'safe sex' work during the First World War - a very hypocritical move as it happened just as her work was officially taken on by the army. For this work she was dubbed the 'guardian angel of the ANZACs' by a French venereal disease specialist and awarded the Reconnaissance Franaise by the French. After the war she settled in London, marrying her long-time friend and wartime colleague, physical culturist Fred Hornibrook. Rout went on with her venereal disease prophylaxis campaign after the war. She also entered the birth control movement in the 1920s, playing a major role in the last big birth control court case, a role often attributed to Dora Russell, while Rout again is 'forgotten'. In her books, like the best selling Safe Marriage, a safe sex guide (which was banned in New Zealand), she encouraged women to own their own bodies and take responsibility for their own sexual health. She linked exercise and sex, arguing in books like Sex and Exercise, that exercise would enhance women's sex lives. She and Hornibrook, who wrote a best-selling book entitled The Culture of the Abdomen, presaging the current obsession with rocklike 'abs', made a pair, teaching fitness techniques, holding 'native dance' evenings, and being hailed as modern dance proponents. Rout also wrote books on vegetarianism, wholemeal cookery and Maori culture. The word most commonly used by people describing her throughout her life was 'energy'. She herself was very fit. But she did not fit in. Once her marriage to Hornibrook was over, in 1936, she returned to New Zealand, was rebuffed by former friends. She sailed for Rarotonga and died there, of a self-administered overdose of quinine that September. As she had remarked to H.G. Wells, 'It is a mixed blessing to be born too soon'. She anticipated many of the enthusiasms of our own time - in diet, in dance, in ideas about exercise and sexuality. But because she was so far ahead of her own time in her 'safe sex' campaign, she became persona non grata in her own country. With the advent of AIDS her contribution snaps into focus - and the AIDS clinic in the city of Christchurch where she used to live has been named after her.

The later evolution of modern sport in Latin America: the North American influence

American impact on modern sports in Latin America overlaps geographically and chronologically with the European, especially British, impact. Principally baseball in the Caribbean basin, more recently basketball and volleyball across the hemisphere and occasionally American football in more limited areas illustrate a north-to-south movement executed by businessmen, educators, missionaries, military personnel, returning travelers (often students), sports entrepreneurs and television. Often initially supported by promoters of development within Latin America, this transfer has altered local recreational patterns and attracted Latin athletes to pursue careers in North America, provoking accusations of cultural imperialism and exploitation.

Hegemony, emancipation and mythology

This epilogue offers a critical overview of some current interpretations of modern sport's origins and evolution in Latin America by certain European and North American commentators. These analyses still adhere to the tradition of the New World's creation. They seldom refer to primary sources. Conclusions are often born out of patronizing compassion and exotic impression. Latin American sources, if any, are mostly quoted when they serve a pessimistic historical bias cultivated by outsiders. In fact, Latin American sport represents a mirror image of more developed areas and indeed a reinvention of sport in specific cases of community isolation and self-development.

Sport in Latin America from past to present: a European perspective

This chapter examines sport in Latin America in its social, cultural, and political contexts. An analysis of the development of sport in Latin America suggests that there have been a number of distinct phases influenced by the cultures of the Spanish, British and French. More recently, the games and pastimes of the United States have made a significant impact. It is suggested that the further development of sport in Latin America is hindered by a number of significant problems. It concludes that the problems faced by some countries are immense and that governments and international organizations in the developed world should offer help where appropriate.

At the heart of a new profession: Margaret Stansfeld, a radical English educationalist

It is argued here that Margaret Stansfeld, as Principal of Bedford Physical Training College from 1903 to 1945, succeeded in developing a strong and distinctive 'female tradition' which was widely disseminated by her students. She was realistic in recognizing the strength of opposition from a male-dominated society to women's participation in sport and physical exercise, and steadily overcame it. She achieved this partly by insisting on acceptably 'ladylike' behaviour from her students in conventional social situations, and also by bringing the work of the college into the public arena, through displays of gymnastics, through the use of elementary schools for part of the student teaching experience, through the running of a physiotherapy clinic where treatment was given free of charge, and through the use of students in the outpatients ward of the local hospital. Stansfeld herself was PE organizer for Bedford from 1923. But she was not afraid to fight against prejudice which was demonstrably based on false premises, e.g. medical opposition to women taking part in strenuous physical exercise, or to insist on appropriate clothing for women, however indecorous some might have considered it. The college's long-term success resulted from a series of factors: its curriculum and ethos, the networking process it fostered, the quality of the teachers it produced, the strength of the Old Students' Association, Stansfeld's willingness to embrace new ideas, and the growing academic respectability of the subject. The pivot of the whole process was Stansfeld herself - autocratic, austere, but an inspirational teacher - feared and loved. Students who succeeded were empowered - 'She prepared us for LIFE!' The success of her Old Students was the most important feature, e.g. Phyllis Colson, originator and director of the Central Council of Physical Recreation. Hundreds of others, less well known, in schools all over Britain and abroad, gave their pupils pride in themselves, not only through the experience of games, gymnastics and dance, but through moral example - 'fair play' - and many brought the newest innovations into schools (e.g. Elizabeth Swallow was the first to introduce Laban into a maintained school in 1939). Stansfeld's indomitable spirit was always in evidence, even at the end of her life - she returned to the office of Principal in 1948 at age 88, three years before her own death, after the unexpected death of her successor. It was this strength of will and character above all else which empowered her students as women and as teachers, and which enabled them in their turn to empower their own pupils, and so to replace the myth that physical activities were damaging to women with the growing realization that sport and physical recreation are as beneficial to women as they are to men. Stansfeld was justifiably recognized in her time as a pioneer in the advancement of women's PE, e.g. by the McNair Report (1942), which argued that nothing comparable had been achieved for men. She was the last survivor of the originators of women's PE, and the most influential. It is ironic that the rise of feminism in the second half of the century coincided with the dissipation of the female tradition, epitomised by Stansfeld, as physical education for women, developed by women, in the first half of the century increasingly came to be controlled by men in the second half. It is perhaps the ultimate demonstration of the success of Stansfeld's work that, despite this, at the beginning of the twenty-first century women are free to participate in and enjoy sport and physical leisure in a way that would have seemed impossible at the beginning of the twentieth.

Tribulations and achievements: the early history of Olympism in Argentina

By the end of the nineteenth century, modern sport had enchanted the people of Argentina. At that time the nation enjoyed a remarkable degree of economic prosperity and embarked on increasing political democratization. These circumstances, along with the fact that the nation was represented from the beginning, in 1894, on the International Olympic Committee seemed to favour Argentina as the spearhead of the diffusion of Olympism throughout South America. However, the country only enjoyed its first official Olympic participation in the Paris Games of 1924 - a few months after the establishment of the Argentine Olympic Committee. This essay explores the reception and diffusion of Olympism in Argentina. It reveals a process of gradual adoption including conflicting views on the relationship between the state and sport, several attempts at institutionalization, international misunderstandings and the role of politics and class.

The yearbook for folk and youth games: a neglected source in German sports history

The article deals with the founding circumstances of German sport associations. It argues from a sociological point of view bringing together the structural changes of modern society and the development of youth as a societal group of its own. The author holds that the beginning of the German sport movement was closely connected to the phenomenon of group building processes furthered by the Central Board for Furthering Folk and Youth Games, a social initiative whose activities have been underestimated by sporthistorians as well as sportsociologists. In the organisation's publication organ The Yearbook for Folk and Youth Games many of the elements were first outlined which characterize German sport associations until today.

New approach in the evaluation of a fitness program at a worksite

The most common methods for the economic evaluation of a fitness program at a worksite are cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and cost-utility analyses. In this study, we applied a basic microeconomic theory, "neoclassical firm's problems," as the new approach for it. The optimal number of physical-exercise classes that constitute the core of the fitness program are determined using the cubic health production function. The optimal number is defined as the number that maximizes the profit of the program. The optimal number corresponding to any willingness-to-pay amount of the participants for the effectiveness of the program is presented using a graph. For example, if the willingness-to-pay is $800, the optimal number of classes is 23. Our method can be applied to the evaluation of any health care program if the health production function can be estimated.

Organization and support for a handicapped ski program

The purpose of this paper is to present a detailed approach to organization of a sports program for the handicapped. In this instance a ski program is de scribed but with some minor alterations, this protocol could apply to any activity for disabled persons.