Impact of School-Based Fitness Testing Awards on Physical Activity Guidelines for Children With Disabilities: NHANES 2013-2016

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to determine the association between school-based fitness testing awards and meeting physical activity guidelines among children with disabilities.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional secondary data analysis using NHANES 2013-2016.

SETTING

Data from NHANES 2013-2016 were used.

SAMPLE

3915 children without disabilities and 647 children with disabilities between ages of 5 to 15 years.

MEASURES

Self-reported from children or proxy response from guardians in above parameters.

ANALYSIS

Chi-square test and multivariable logistic regression.

RESULTS

There is no significant different between children with and without disabilities in receiving school-based fitness testing awards (ײ = 4.14, p = .05). According to both crude and adjusted model, children with disabilities are more likely to received school-based fitness testing awards than children without disabilities (OR = 1.44, 95% C.I. [.98, 2.12]; OR = 1.27, 95% C.I. [.85, 1.89]). Also, for children with disabilities, children who did not received school-based fitness testing awards are more likely to meet PA guidelines than children who received school-based fitness testing awards according to both crude and adjusted models (OR = 1.71, 95% C.I. [.66, 4.47]; OR = 1.37, 95% C.I. [.59, 3.16]).

CONCLUSION

Receiving school-based fitness testing could potentially increase self-efficacy in engaging in physical activity among children with disabilities. However, there is a need to determine if the current approach of utilizing awards are sufficient enough to promote physical activity among children with disabilities.

Sedentary behavior and physical activity predicting depressive symptoms in adolescents beyond attributes of health-related physical fitness

BACKGROUND

Sedentary behavior (SB), physical activity (PA), and attributes of physical fitness have been shown to be related to depressive symptoms in adolescents. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether SB and fitness-producing activity predicted depression in active adolescents over and above gender and fitness attributes.

METHODS

Participants were 249 adolescents (age: 12.85 ± 0.89 years, mean ± SD) from 3 public middle schools who wore Actical accelerometers to assess their SB and PA. Participants also completed the FITNESSGRAM health-related fitness assessment and a brief depression questionnaire. A 3-step hierarchical regression analysis was conducted with gender and fitness attributes (i.e., body mass index (BMI), maximal volume oxygen uptake (VO_2max), curlups, and pushups), moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity, and SB entered in respective steps.

RESULTS

Regression analysis indicated activity variables (i.e., moderate- and vigorous-intensity activity) significantly predicted depression (ΔR ² = 0.12, p < 0.01) beyond gender and fitness attributes. Overall, gender, fitness attributes, activity variables, SB explained 31% of the variance in depression. Structure coefficients revealed VO_2max (r _s = -0.77), moderate-intensity activity (r _s = -0.67), vigorous-intensity activity (r _s = -0.81), and SB (r _s = 0.57) were substantially correlated with the criterion variable; thus, they were the strongest predictors of depression.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the current study indicated SB and PA were both significant predictors of depression; however, sufficient fitness-producing activity and adequate cardiorespiratory fitness may nullify the negative influence of SB on depressive symptoms in active adolescents.

Distribution of health-related physical fitness in Slovak population

Purpose of the study was to examine relationship between distribution of healthy fitness zone standards of high school students and their type of housing or area of residence. Study sample consisted of 684 students (284 boys, 400 girls) from urban and rural areas of the region Presov in the eastern part of Slovakia. Physical fitness was assessed by four tests: back-saver sit and reach, shoulder stretch, curl-ups and 90° push-ups. Differences by place of residence and types of housing were examined by correspondence analysis of two-dimensional tables with computing Chi square value at significance level p < 0.05. Urban students performed higher level of flexibility, abdominal and upper strength and endurance than rural ones. Boys and girls living in a flat reached higher level of flexibility and abdominal strength/endurance however, they performed worse in upper strength and endurance than those living in a house. Slovak adolescents seem to have a healthier profile in abdominal muscular fitness and upper body flexibility than in lower body flexibility. The relationship between distribution of healthy fitness zone standards and residence area or housing type was revealed only in lower body flexibility, upper strength and endurance of urban and rural girls.

Overview of the Hungarian National Youth Fitness Study

The 2012 Public Act on Education in Hungary made daily physical education (PE) a mandatory part of the school day starting in the 2012-2013 school year. This directive was linked to a significant reorganization of the Hungarian education system including a new National Core Curriculum that regulates the objectives and contents of PE. The Hungarian School Sport Federation (HSSF) recognized the opportunity and created the Strategic Actions for Health-Enhancing Physical Education or Testnevelés az Egészségfejlesztésben Stratégiai Intézkedések (TESI) project. Physical fitness assessments have been a traditional part of the Hungarian PE program; however, the TESI plan called for the use of a new health-related battery and assessment system to usher in a new era of fitness education in the country. The HSSF enlisted the Cooper Institute to assist in building an infrastructure for full deployment of a national student fitness assessment program based on the FITNESSGRAM® in Hungarian schools. The result is a new software-supported test battery, namely the Hungarian National Student Fitness Test (NETFIT), which uses health-related, criterion-referenced youth fitness standards. The NETFIT system now serves as a compulsory fitness assessment for all Hungarian schools. This article details the development process for the test battery and summarizes the aims and methods of the Hungarian National Youth Fitness Study.

Development of an aerobic capacity prediction model from one-mile run/walk performance in adolescents aged 13-16 years

A popular algorithm to predict VO2Peak from the one-mile run/walk test (1MRW) includes body mass index (BMI), which manifests practical issues in school settings. The purpose of this study was to develop an aerobic capacity model from 1MRW in adolescents independent of BMI. Cardiorespiratory endurance data were collected on 90 adolescents aged 13-16 years. The 1MRW was administered on an outside track and a laboratory VO2Peak test was conducted using a maximal treadmill protocol. Multiple linear regression was employed to develop the prediction model. Results yielded the following algorithm: VO2Peak = 7.34 × (1MRW speed in m s(-1)) + 0.23 × (age × sex) + 17.75. The New Model displayed a multiple correlation and prediction error of R = 0.81, standard error of the estimate = 4.78 ml kg(-1) · min(-1), with measured VO2Peak and good criterion-referenced (CR) agreement into FITNESSGRAM's Healthy Fitness Zone (Kappa = 0.62; percentage agreement = 84.4%; Φ = 0.62). The New Model was validated using k-fold cross-validation and showed homoscedastic residuals across the range of predicted scores. The omission of BMI did not compromise accuracy of the model. In conclusion, the New Model displayed good predictive accuracy and good CR agreement with measured VO2Peak in adolescents aged 13-16 years.