State Lawmaker's Views on Childhood Obesity and Related School Wellness Legislation.

BACKGROUND: School wellness legislation has potential to impact the health of children and alter the obesity crisis in the United Sates. Little is known about how state lawmakers perceive child wellness legislation effectiveness relative to obesity prevention. Our purpose was to understand state lawmakers' perceptions of childhood obesity and school wellness policies relative to the Social Ecological Model (SEM). METHODS: Twenty-one state representatives and nine state senators from one US state completed in-depth interviews. Member checks and peer debriefing occurred throughout data collection and analysis. Transcripts were coded and triangulated. A conventional content analysis generated consistent themes. RESULTS: Five main themes developed: (1) child overweight and obesity is problematic; (2) current legislation is ineffective; (3) funding and enforcing child wellness legislation is difficult; (4) it is difficult to legislate personal behavior; and (5) efforts from other levels of the SEM are more effective at promoting wellness. CONCLUSIONS: Lawmakers understand negative impacts of child obesity, but perceive immediate legislative issues like budgetary concerns inhibit robust policy-oriented action. Participants believe parents, guardians, and individuals should ultimately be responsible for child wellness. Community, school, and family efforts to address childhood obesity and support wellness may be more effective in achieving positive outcomes than state and federal policy.

Health-Related Fitness Content Knowledge, Physical Activity, and Instructional Practices Among U.S. Physical Educators.

To promote student physical literacy, physical educators must teach and assess health-related fitness content knowledge (HRFK) and model healthy lifestyles. Individual HRFK is associated with lifetime physical activity (PA) and each may precede/predict both teaching and assessing of student HRFK. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine factors related to physical educators' teaching and assessment of student HRFK. Method: Physical educators (N = 796) representing each SHAPE America regional district completed a 33-item survey to determine their individual HRFK, weekly PA, and extent to which they teach (tHRFK) and assess (aHRFK) student HRFK. Results: Multiple regression was conducted to determine if tHRFK and aHRFK are predicted by teachers' individual HRFK, min/week of light, moderate, or vigorous PA, or any demographic variables. Overall, the tHRFK model was significant (F = 10.919, R2 = 0.100, p < .001) with all predictors significant, except weekly minutes of moderate PA and participant HRFK (p < .05). The aHRFK model was also significant (F = 45.736, R2 = 0.108, p < .022) with all predictors significant except weekly minutes of moderate PA, education level, and participant HRFK (p < .05). Conclusion: U.S. physical educators possess high levels of HRFK, however HRFK is not a significant predictor of their teaching and assessing HRFK. Weekly vigorous PA, was the strongest predictor, suggesting that teachers' commitment to their own personal PA is critical to teaching and assessing HRFK among their students. Further research should consider vigorous PA along with other potentially related variables to more fully describe and predict physical educators' teaching and assessment of HRFK.

What's Physical Activity Got to Do With It? Social Trends in Less Active Students at Recess.

BACKGROUND: Public health concerns regarding childhood obesity and sedentary behavior make investigations of children's physical activity (PA) promotion crucial. School recess, a highly discretional time, plays a central role in shaping children's activity preferences. METHODS: Participants included 40 children (30 girls, 10 boys) from fourth and fifth grades, categorized as low active during recess (<26% moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA]). PA was measured via accelerometer (Actigraph wGT3X+) and activity choice gauged through a self-report measure over a 3-day period. To assess attitudes and perceptions of recess, individual interviews were conducted. Accelerometer data were analyzed into minutes and percentage of MVPA; interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed utilizing open and axial coding. RESULTS: Participants were active for 18% of recess, choosing activities that were primarily individual-based. Interview data showed low active children attribute recess enjoyment to social interaction and time away from schoolwork as well as an intention to avoid other children who were unkind and/or caused social conflict. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the importance of gaining a child's perspective of their own behavior, particularly those children classified as less active. Findings add a unique contribution to school health research through an innovative, child-centered approach to explore perceptions of PA.

Understanding Teacher Change: A National Survey of U.S. Physical Educators.

Physical education is critical to addressing childhood obesity, yet many school-based programs do not meet established quality standards and teachers are called upon to change. Little is known about how change is initiated and its associated internal and external factors. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate physical education teacher change that was self-initiated and externally initiated and to examine dispositions toward the change process relative to initiation. METHOD: A random national sample of physical educators representing each SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators regional district participated in a survey measuring past programming changes, primary initiators of change, and teachers' dispositions toward change. In total, 2,423 teachers (46% response rate) completed electronic, paper, or telephone questionnaires. RESULTS: Teachers most often made minor curriculum changes, and they added/subtracted student assessments (primarily informal assessments) least often. Self-initiated (bottom-up) change was most frequently (83.1% of the time) reported. Externally initiated (top-down) changes were less frequent and were most often associated with professional development. Teachers reported principals' involvement in both top-down and bottom-up change processes was minimal. Teachers who were more disposed to making future changes reported making significantly (p < .01, η2 = .046-.119) more past changes than those who were less disposed to change. CONCLUSIONS: Physical education teachers primarily self-initiated minor programming changes without involvement from administration. Externally initiated change was infrequent and mostly involved professional development. Dispositions toward change were individual and enduring such that teachers who had made more past changes were more likely to also make future changes.

Association of School-Based Physical Activity Opportunities, Socioeconomic Status, and Third-Grade Reading.

BACKGROUND: Socioeconomic status (SES) is the most accurate predictor of academic performance in US schools. Third-grade reading is highly predictive of high school graduation. Chronic physical activity (PA) is shown to improve cognition and academic performance. We hypothesized that school-based PA opportunities (recess and physical education) would moderate the negative association between SES and third-grade reading. METHODS: Schools serving third-grade students were surveyed (N = 1279) for minutes/week of PA opportunities. Allotted weekly PA time and achievement data from participating schools (N = 784) were recorded and analyzed. To test the moderator hypothesis, moderated multiple regression analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The interaction of PA opportunities and SES explained a significant increase in variance in third-grade reading (b = .053, p < .001), thus moderating the relationship between SES and third-grade reading. Further analysis showed that schools offering greater than 225 minutes/week of PA opportunities experienced a greater (+5%) moderating effect. CONCLUSION: School-based PA opportunities positively moderate the relationship between SES and third-grade reading, and lowest SES schools experience greater moderating effects. Future research should consider PA opportunities as a moderator of the SES-academic achievement relationship, and school policy makers should consider the influence that PA opportunities have on student achievement at varying SES levels.

Effects of ß-alanine supplementation on performance and body composition in collegiate wrestlers and football players.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of ß-alanine as an ergogenic aid in tests of anaerobic power output after 8 weeks of high-intensity interval, repeated sprint, and resistance training in previously trained collegiate wrestlers (WR) and football (FB) players. Twenty-two college WRs (19.9 ± 1.9 years, age ± SD) and 15 college FB players (18.6 ± 1.5 years) participated in this double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Each subject ingested either 4 g·d ß-alanine or placebo in powdered capsule form. Subjects were tested pre and posttreatment in timed 300-yd shuttle, 90° flexed-arm hang (FAH), body composition, and blood lactate after 300-yd shuttle. Although not statistically significant (p > 0.05) subjects taking ß-alanine achieved more desirable results on all tests compared to those on placebo. Performance improvements were greatest in the FB supplement group, decreasing 300 shuttle time by 1.1 seconds (vs. 0.4-second placebo) and increasing FAH (3.0 vs. 0.39 seconds). The wrestlers, both placebo and supplement, lost weight (as was the goal, i.e., weight bracket allowance); however, the supplement group increased lean mass by 1.1 lb, whereas the placebo group lost lean mass (-0.98 lb). Both FB groups gained weight; however, the supplement group gained an average 2.1-lb lean mass compared to 1.1 lb for placebo. ß-Alanine appears to have the ability to augment performance and stimulate lean mass accrual in a short amount of time (8 weeks) in previously trained athletes. Training regimen may have an effect on the degree of benefit from ß-alanine supplementation.