Evaluating Physical Activity

Healthy People implemented an extensive list of physical activity objectives targeting youth of all ages. The objectives are all aimed at promoting the health benefits of maintaining a physically active life-style. The following objective targets a major area of concern for the medical community and the increase of inactivity among today's youth; “PA-8.2.2; Increase the proportion of children and adolescents aged 6 to 14 years who view television, videos, or play video games for no more than 2 hours a

As mentioned previously, exercise is seen as one of the cornerstones of a healthy life. A review of 86 scientific papers concerning exercise benefits in school age children, conducted by Janssen and Leblanc, found that children aged 15-17 “should accumulate an average of at least 60 minutes per day and up to several hours of at least moderate intensity physical activity”(Janssen and Leblanc, 1). In fact, even a more modest level of activity would be sufficient in battling health risks, such as

Over the last 30-40 years, the amount and intensity of exercise has gradually declined. Few children in the United States have actually met the recommended “sixty minutes of vigorous exercise” per day (Institute of Medicine, 2013). Although most states and districts have policies pertaining to physical education, these programs lack reinforcement and are often considered weak. Physical education has slowly declined throughout the years, and the the purpose of encouraging students to make physical activity part of their daily lifestyle has been lost. Recent research from Cornell University has found that the average high school gym class consists of students being active for an average of only sixteen minutes! This is nowhere near the recommended sixty minutes of physical exercise. Physical education has been pushed to the side while academics have been prioritised. P.E. classes have become overlooked by society as a whole. Students simply see it as a courses used only for socializing, or to avoid academic courses such as Algebra, Biology, and History. While teachers no longer encourage students to be active, this should not be the path in which we take physical education. The importance of exercise and physical activity goes beyond the classroom with is proven benefits in memory, cognition and attention which are skills that can be used for daily life activities. In recent times, many programs are popping up across the country to emphasize the importance of being active!

It is a well-documented fact that all individuals need to be physically active to prevent adverse health consequences and to maintain optimal health and fitness levels. Jeff McCubbin states in his article, “Adapted Physical Activity: Influential Impacts to Establish a Field of Study,” that there is sufficient research-based evidence that indicates that adolescences and young adults who engage in routine physical activity realize improvements in “cardiovascular and muscular fitness, bone health, and obesity and related biomarkers.”1 Though there has been a significant effort made to educate the public about the positive impact of exercise on health and fitness many individuals still remain inactive. In 2015, for instance, 47.9% of adults with

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states the following: “Regular physical activity in childhood and adolescence improves strength and endurance, helps build healthy bones and muscles, helps control weight, reduces anxiety and stress, increases self-esteem, and may improve blood pressure and cholesterol levels” (Cdc.gov). Our target population of middle school adolescents in Long Beach has higher than average obesity rates; therefore implementing a physical activity intervention plan is necessary.

Physical fitness attain at childhood to adolescence are associated with short and long term benefits on health and wellness that may influence their health status in adulthood (Ortega, Ruiz, Castillo, & Sjostrom, 2008). High levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and muscular strength present at childhood to adolescence are linked with favourable cardiovascular fitness and acts as a counterbalance to increased body fat in adulthood, respectively; while high levels of body fat in childhood is associated with less favourable lipid profiles in adulthood (Kahn et al., 1997; Sjostrom & Ruiz, 2008). Similarly, Must & Tybor (2005) suggest that increased physical activity and decreased sedentary activities during childhood and adolescence years will protect them against weight gain in adulthood. Ortega, Ruiz, Castillo, and Sjostrom (2008) review the health outcomes of physical fitness in children

The observational study is a kind of study where the individual is being observed otherwise a certain outcome is measured (2012). However, there are several pros and cons for an observational study. The pros on observational procedure is an open procedure in which they permit researchers to be able to record the facts in which are the physical activity behavioral for instance environmental conditions, behavioral cues, the presence of significant others, accessibility of the equipment (Editorial Board, 2012). Also another pro would be that the observational study is a kind of study where the individual is being observed otherwise a certain outcome is measured, although it is valuable for a researcher as well as those who undertake interventions otherwise practitioners (2012). However, there are several cons to consider as well. One of the cons would be that the observational studies the method in which it is

In the stages of childhood and adolescent, exercising is a needed task. This task is what can lead the children in a positive development. The exercising can be risky for children, which all relies on the proper or improper performance. As the proper ways take place, there can be an improvement in physical and mental health; whereas, the improper ways can result in the opposite.

In chapter 16, Beyond Physical Education: School-Based Physical Activity Programming, Joe Barrett thoroughly elucidated the importance and declines in spontaneous and self directed child and youth physical activity. In today’s society, children and youth are living shorter lives than their parents due to the lack of physical activity. The observation of this matter triggered many organizations to produce physical activity guidelines for children. The CSEP and PHAC issued guidelines stating that children (5-11 years) and youth (12-17 years) regardless of their status should participate in as a minimum sixty minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity daily. Additionally,

The SCT model was not to be a suitable fit in this case because only small portions of the variances were actually explained. The initial issue that this study faced was that the original sample due for intervention comprised of 357 girls, however only 235 were eligible at the accelerometer data at baseline. Thus, the actual study itself was not an accurate depiction of the initial sample. This study would have benefited from the development of a more intensive program to better explain the precursors of behavior changes in these girls. One example of what could be done to improve upon this study would be to add a self-worth construct to the model. Being a female myself, I can attest to the fact that self-worth is a great predictive indicator in regards to physical activity. The most accurate estimations acquired from this study was attributed to the accelerometer. The self-report, SCT scales are good for a baseline to compare against, but does not provide much else to the study. In addition to a baseline assessment the participants should also be evaluated for their progress at both the 3 month and 6 month marks. Another change that is presented at the end of this article is that there should be more focus placed on the amalgamation of other theories as an attempt to better understand the driving forces behind physical activity in

The results showed that individuals in the study took more steps and the end of the 4 weeks than the control group. “During the fourth and final week of the intervention, children in the treatment group took an average of 2,016 more steps than children in the control group (p<.05). There was no significant change in encouragement of activity among control group parents” (). There was no difference in the perception of the parents as to how active their children were. The information suggests that being in the intervention motivated parents to encourage more physical activity and increased the physical activity of the children involved. There was no assessment after the 4 weeks to see in the new behavior

METHODS: I assessed physical activity (PA) over three to seven days using the ActiGraph GTM1 accelerometer in 80 toddlers (mean age 1.88 years; 58% male; 38% Hispanic; and 43% overweight) defined by weight percentile (≥85th percentile for age and gender) from Ventura County, California.

A. At the beginning of the semester I was not regularly active during my weekdays or weekends. I would go on walks, an occasional run and use my elliptical machine at home but never on a regular basis. Once, I started this course and the training peaks assignment, I began to incorporate a variety of physical activities in order to make it easier for me to become active on a regular basis. I chose physical activities that I would find enjoyable and even discovered new physical activities that I had not tried before to be very enjoyable, like power yoga and racquetball. The second week of using Training Peaks was when I began to be physically active on a regular basis, which was 5-7 days a week. I made sure to invest at least half an hour in each physical activity I would partake it. I found that I tend to spend more than half an hour doing the physical activities that I enjoy more, like racquetball and riding my mountain bike. I started playing racquetball and mountain biking for forty-five minutes initially and no I have increased the time to a whole hour. I also had a lot more rest days at the start of using Training Peaks than I do now.

Pre-diabetes and sedentary measures, in research, have increased according to the Centers of Disease Control, 2015. Working in a military community setting, the rates of co-morbidities of obesity has increased and people are getting lost in the system without any follow-up of prescription to nutritional staff, exercise physiology, behavior health, and disease management.

Exercise is important for teenagers, but sometimes it is hard to get started. Doctors suggest exercise for, not only overweight children, everyone. Studies have proven that exercise helps body improvement mentally, physically and academically. According to Important to get teens involved with fitness, at minimum, twenty-five of the U.S children are overweight or on the verge of becoming overweight. Parents should encourage their children to eat healthy and exercise daily to prevent the outcome of nationwide obesity.