The Role of Physical Literacy in the Association Between Weather and Physical Activity: A Longitudinal Multilevel Analysis With 951 Children.

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies showed an effect of weather on physical activity (PA) levels in children. However, no study has yet examined the relevance of personal factors in this relationship. Therefore, this study analyzes (1) whether there are systematic interindividual differences in the extent to which weather affects the PA behavior and (2) whether physical literacy (PL) moderates the weather-PA association in children. METHODS: A total of 951 children in 12 Danish schools (age 9.76 [1.59] y; 54.3% girls) completed objective PA assessments via accelerometry (moderate to vigorous PA, light PA, and sedentary behavior). Local weather data (precipitation, wind speed, temperature, and sunshine duration) were provided by the Danish Meteorological Institute. Participants' PL was measured employing the Danish version of the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy-2. The 4116 accelerometer days underwent longitudinal multilevel analyses while considering their nesting into pupils and school classes (n = 51). RESULTS: Fluctuations in all PA indicators were significantly explained by variations in weather conditions, especially precipitation (P ≤ .035). Significant interindividual differences were found for 9 of 12 analytical dimensions, suggesting that weather changes influence PA behavior differently across individuals (especially moderate to vigorous PA, χ2[4] ≥ 11.5, P ≤ .021). However, PL moderated the relationship between weather and PA in only 2 of the 48 analytical constellations. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the varying impact of weather on PA across individuals, the present study favors a main effect model in which weather and PL exert independent effects on children's PA. The insufficient support for PL as a moderating factor calls for future studies to test alternative mechanisms in the weather-PA association.

Predicting adolescents' continuation in club sports: A prospective cohort study of the importance of personal and contextual motivational factors in five sports in Denmark.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to investigate the influence of types of motivation, basic psychological needs satisfaction and of a coach-created motivational climate on continued participation in youth sports across types of sport, competitive levels, ages, and gender. METHODS: Participants were 7110 adolescent (age 12-20 years) members of leisure time club organized in basketball, handball, football, badminton, and gymnastics in Denmark. Motivational regulation was measured with BRSQ-6, basic psychological needs satisfaction and frustration were measured with PNSS-S, and coach-created climate was measured with the EDMCQ-C. The participants' continuation or dropout was measured at the beginning of the following season with a short electronic questionnaire. RESULTS: Intrinsic motivation, identified behavior regulation, experiences of competence, relatedness, and autonomy, as well as a coach-created empowering motivational climate, were associated with continuation both in the sport and in the club the following season across different sports, genders, age groups, and competitive levels. Introjected and external behavior regulation, frustrations with the need to experience competence, relatedness, and autonomy, as well as a disempowering coach-created climate, were associated with dropout. CONCLUSION: In Danish youth sports, autonomous motivation, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and an empowering coach-created motivational climate have a positive impact on the continuation of the sport and the club the following season. In contrast, controlled types of motivation, needs frustration, and a disempowering coach-created climate are associated with dropout. This is the case at both elite and recreational levels, for boys and girls, adolescents, and youth.

Feasibility and acceptability of the Promoting Pupils' Physical Literacy (3PL) intervention and its effectiveness research design: A study protocol.

Research has shown that physical activity (PA) is important for health throughout the lifespan. Therefore, it is important that children develop the individual prerequisites that enable participation in PA throughout life. The theoretical concept physical literacy (PL) and the research field of PL has described such personal competences and traits. However, to promote PL among children and lifelong PA, there is a demand for more high-quality interventions to be developed and tested. When targeting children, schools are an important setting. Despite the possibility of promoting PL during PE lessons, few well-tested interventions have been developed. In this study, we therefore aim to context adapt and feasibility test an already existing and promising PL intervention to a Danish school context. The ADAPT and MRC guidelines were followed to adapt the Promoting Pupils Physical Literacy (3PL) intervention. Through workshops with stakeholders, the intervention was adapted to fit Danish 4th and 5th graders. Four Danish schools were recruited in a wait list design. The feasibility and acceptability of both the intervention and the effect study design will be investigated. To investigate the intervention, weekly questionnaires, observations, and interviews will be conducted during the intervention period. The feasibility of the effect study design will be investigated by collecting baseline and endline data on pupils' PL and daily PA as well as parents' socioeconomic status. Expected outcomes include a TIDieR checklist, a revised, feasible, and acceptable intervention, and an effect study design protocol. This will contribute to important steps in the direction of making PL interventions more accessible for practice. Valid testing of intervention effectiveness enables stakeholders to make informed decisions grounded in evidence. This will strengthen the possibilities of a successful outcome and for a PL intervention that is more accessible for practice, which is important for scale up.

Efficacy and mechanisms of an education outside the classroom intervention on pupils' health and education: the MOVEOUT study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Education can create better opportunities for health, and vice versa. Using a so-called 'add-in' approach, school-based physical activity (PA) promotion and prevention of sedentary behaviours can increase pupils' wellbeing and learning and, on the longer term, reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases. A PA 'add-in' approach involves integrating PA into teachers' curricular obligations without being an extra burden as opposed to an 'add-on' approach which requires additional operational resources and include activities that do not explicitly contribute towards curricular targets making them less long-term acceptable in a school-based context. Previous studies investigating education outside the classroom (EOtC) show mutual benefits for both health and education outcomes among children and adolescents. However, the evidence is of mixed quality and questionable certainty, which calls for further investigation. The aim of this study protocol is to describe and discuss the study design and methods to investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of EOtC as a vehicle for health and education. The study investigates the intervention developed and conducted in the TEACHOUT study with updated and strengthened design and measures. METHODS: The efficacy of EOtC will be investigated in a cluster randomised waitlist design. Participants will be pupils in ~54 classes, grades 4-10 (ages 10-15 years) in ~30 Danish elementary schools. Fifteen schools will be randomised to the intervention: a two-day EOtC training course targeting teachers followed by the teachers implementing EOtC >5 hours weekly over the course of one school year. Pre- and post-measures of health (PA and wellbeing) and learning (school motivation and academic achievement) will be collected. Investigation of pedagogical and motivational mechanisms will be based on observations of EOtC. DISCUSSION: The updated randomised controlled design will provide firmer evidence for the efficacy and mechanisms of EOtC and provide knowledge about how mutual benefits of health and education can be obtained. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (ID NCT05237674 ) [University of Copenhagen. MOVEOUT: a Cluster RCT of the Efficacy, Mechanisms, and Mediation of an Education Outside the Classroom Intervention on Adolescents' Physical Activity, 2023], February 14, 2022. Most recently updated on November 23, 2022 (Version 2).

Greenspace as Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Essentialities in the Physical Environment.

There is a scarcity of knowledge regarding the potential benefits of human-nature contact within the context of working life. Even more limited is the research that focuses on working outdoors and the setting in which it takes place. This study aimed to obtain insight into key aspects of the physical environment relevant for the experienced benefits and challenges of workers exploring office work outdoors. We conducted interviews with key informants as well as photo registration and mapping of the different green spaces in the environments of six small or medium-sized workplaces. The information gathered was used as background knowledge for exploratory qualitative interviews, which were conducted while walking in natural settings chosen by the interviewees. With a landscape architectural perspective and an inductive approach, we explored employees' experiences of bringing office work outdoors. The following themes emerged: 'Simplicity,' 'Safeness', 'Comfort', and 'Contact with Nature' were experienced as key aspects in relation to the physical environment, whereas 'Sociality', 'Well-being', and 'Functioning' stood out as the main benefits and, 'Digital dependency' and 'Illegitimacy' as challenges to overcome. Based on the identification of potential benefits and their prerequisites, we propose implications for practice and research that can be useful when focusing on bringing office work outdoors.

Synthesising physical literacy research for 'blank spots': A Systematic review of reviews.

The holistic concept of physical literacy (PL) has gained considerable attention worldwide and integrates different determinants (e.g., physical, affective, and cognitive) of physical activity. The purpose of this systematic review (PROSPERO registration: CRD42022312764) was to broadly synthesise PL research and determine "blank spots". We performed standardized searches for PL reviews in 23 databases. Inclusion criteria were English language, any review with a systematized search, publication by June 2023 and PL relevance in an article's main body. The content and insights of the identified reviews were assigned to six literature-driven "problem fields": (i) theory/concept, (ii) measurement/levels/trends, (iii) determinants, (iv) outcomes, (v) interventions, and (vi) policy. We employed nine items for assessing the methodological quality of the reviews (including six items from AMSTAR-2). The screening resulted in an inclusion of 41 PL reviews of different methodology. Existing reviews most frequently analysed aspects of measurement (n = 20) as well as theory/definition (n = 19), followed by interventions (n = 17). In contrast, determinants (n = 6), outcomes (n = 5) and policy aspects (n = 4) were discussed less often. Accordingly, the major "blank spots" are: empirical studies on determinants and outcomes; PL levels and trends; pivotal moderators of interventions; and policy aspects. We recommend the scientific community to address these to move the field forward.

Factorial validity, predictive validity and measurement invariance of the Danish version of the coach-created Empowering Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire (EDMCQ-C).

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to translate and validate a Danish version of the coach-created Empowering and Disempowering Motivational Climate Questionnaire (EDMCQ-C), retest the factor structure and provide further investigation into the psychometric properties in terms of measurement invariance across gender, age and competitive level, reliability and predictive validity. METHODS: The participants were 1719 male and 551 female Danish football players 12-20 years of age (M = 14.81) playing at recreational, medium and elite levels. Participants filled in EDMCQ-C as well as questionnaires measuring psychological needs (BPNESS) and behaviour regulation (BRSQ). Factor structure of the EDMCQ-C was tested using Exploratory Structural Equation Modelling. To test whether the factor structure differed across gender, age group and competitive level, an invariance analysis comparing configurational, metric and scalar models was conducted. RESULTS: EDMCQ-C showed good psychometric properties and measurement invariance across age, gender and competitive level. Both dimensions of EDMCQ-C were associated to needs satisfaction and behaviour regulation in expected directions and had high internal consistency. CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence for the reliability of the two dimensions of EDMCQ-C, their predictive validity and for measurement invariance across age, gender and competitive level and provides a Danish version of the EDMCQ with sound psychometric properties.

Physical literacy in Europe: The current state of implementation in research, practice, and policy.

Background/objective: The holistic concept of physical literacy (PL) embraces different person-centered qualities (physical, cognitive, affective/psychological) necessary to lead physically active lifestyles. PL has recently gained increasing attention globally and Europe is no exception. However, scientific endeavors summarizing the current state of PL in Europe are lacking. Therefore, the goal of this study was to comprehensively assess and compare the implementation of PL in research, policy, and practice across the continent. Methods: We assembled a panel of experts representing 25 European countries. Employing a complementary mixed-methods design, the experts first prepared reviews about the current state of PL in their countries (categories: research, practice/policy). The reviews underwent comparative document analysis, ensuring a transnational four-eyes principle. For re-validation purposes, the representatives completed a quantitative survey with questions reflecting the inductive themes from the document analysis. Results: The document analysis resulted in ten disjunct themes (related to "concept", "research", "practice/policy", "future/prospect") and yielded a heterogenous PL situation in Europe. The implementation state was strongly linked to conceptual discussions (e.g., existence of competing approaches), linguistic issues (e.g., translations), and country-specific traditions. Despite growing scholarly attention, PL hesitantly permeates practice and policy in most countries. Nevertheless, the experts largely anticipate increasing popularity of PL for the future. Conclusion: Despite the heterogeneous situation across Europe, the analysis has uncovered similarities among the countries, such as the presence of established yet not identical concepts. Research should intensify academic activities (conceptual-linguistic elaborations, empirical work) before PL may gain further access into practical and political spheres in the long term.

Activating the 'peerness' of youth leaders in a community sports programme through techne and phronesis.

Peer-to-peer approaches engage groups of people considered to share one or more characteristics that identify them as peers and draw on rationales of credibility, identification and role modelling in peer-to-peer interactions. Despite the popularity of the approach, the ways in which the peer leadership component specifically contributes to health promotion is not thoroughly understood. We suggest that a first step for making use of peer leader characteristics is to make explicit what the peer leadership component is expected to bring to a programme. To approach such an understanding, we investigated how peer leaders can be supported in activating their 'peerness' in health promotion programmes, using as a case the peer leader education of a youth-led, peer-to-peer community sports programme, implemented by the non-profit street sports organization, GAME. We analysed the peer leader training programme's learning objectives and field notes from observations of the training programme. The empirical material was analysed using an abductive approach by drawing upon contemporary interpretations of two forms of knowledge originally proposed by Aristotle. In so doing, this article explores how the development of techne (practical knowledge) and phronesis (practical wisdom) was supported in a peer leader training programme for young people. Findings suggest that supporting the development of both these types of knowledge can strengthen programme planners' attention to the contribution of peers. Concurrently, an emphasis on promoting phronesis in peer leader training can support and encourage peer leaders in activating their 'peerness' in peer-to-peer health promotion programmes.

Peer-to-peer approaches are commonly used in the health promotion. Peer-led programmes engage groups of people considered to share one or more characteristics that identify them as peers. Peer leaders are suggested to be credible sources of information and provide identification and role modelling to their peers. However, despite the popularity of the approach, the ways in which peer leaders specifically contribute to health promotion are not thoroughly understood. It is thus unclear how the 'peerness' of peer leaders is activated in health promotion programmes. In this study, we investigated how peer leaders can be supported in activating their 'peerness' during peer-led activities. To do so, we observed and analysed the peer leader training programme of a youth-led community sport programme, implemented by the non-profit organization, GAME. As a theoretical framework, we employed two forms of knowledge originally proposed by Aristotle; namely, techne (practical knowledge) and phronesis (practical wisdom). Our results suggest that supporting the development of both these types of knowledge can strengthen programme planners' attention to the contribution of peers. Concurrently, an emphasis on promoting phronesis in peer leader training can support and encourage peer leaders in activating their 'peerness' in peer-to-peer health promotion programmes.

Self-reported measurements of physical literacy in adults: a scoping review.

Physical literacy (PL) is a comprehensive concept covering motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding of individuals' physical activity throughout life. PL has three overlapping domains, such as: an affective, a physical and a cognitive domain. So far, PL has not been measured in the adults and no complete measurement has been developed to date. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this scoping review was to review existing self-reported instruments measuring different elements of domains of PL. METHOD: We reviewed Education Research Complete, Cochrane, Medline, ScienceDirect, Scopus and SPORTDiscus. The reporting followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Studies were coded using a thematic framework, which was based on the three domains of PL. The eligibility criteria were as follows: (1) age groups between 18 and 60 years; (2) meta-analyses, reviews or quantitative studies focusing on the measurement of at least one of the three domains of PL and (3) instrument that was self-reported. We finalised search on 1 August 2021 RESULTS: In total, 67 articles were identified as studies describing instruments reflecting the three domains of PL. Following full-text reading, 21 articles that met our inclusion criteria were included. Several instruments of relevance to PL are available for assessing motivation, confidence and the physical domain. However, few instruments exist that measure elements of the cognitive domain. CONCLUSION: This review showed that a range of existing and validated instruments exists, covering two out of the three domains of PL, namely affective and physical domains. However, for the knowledge domain no valid measurement tools could be found. This scoping review has identified gaps in the research (namely the cognitive domain) and also a gap in the research as no measures that consider the inter-relatedness of the three domains (holistic nature of the concept).

Play, Learn, and Teach Outdoors-Network (PLaTO-Net): terminology, taxonomy, and ontology.

BACKGROUND: A recent dialogue in the field of play, learn, and teach outdoors (referred to as "PLaTO" hereafter) demonstrated the need for developing harmonized and consensus-based terminology, taxonomy, and ontology for PLaTO. This is important as the field evolves and diversifies in its approaches, contents, and contexts over time and in different countries, cultures, and settings. Within this paper, we report the systematic and iterative processes undertaken to achieve this objective, which has built on the creation of the global PLaTO-Network (PLaTO-Net). METHODS: This project comprised of four major methodological phases. First, a systematic scoping review was conducted to identify common terms and definitions used pertaining to PLaTO. Second, based on the results of the scoping review, a draft set of key terms, taxonomy, and ontology were developed, and shared with PLaTO members, who provided feedback via four rounds of consultation. Third, PLaTO terminology, taxonomy, and ontology were then finalized based on the feedback received from 50 international PLaTO member participants who responded to ≥ 3 rounds of the consultation survey and dialogue. Finally, efforts to share and disseminate project outcomes were made through different online platforms. RESULTS: This paper presents the final definitions and taxonomy of 31 PLaTO terms along with the PLaTO-Net ontology model. The model incorporates other relevant concepts in recognition that all the aspects of the model are interrelated and interconnected. The final terminology, taxonomy, and ontology are intended to be applicable to, and relevant for, all people encompassing various identities (e.g., age, gender, culture, ethnicity, ability). CONCLUSIONS: This project contributes to advancing PLaTO-based research and facilitating intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration, with the long-term goal of fostering and strengthening PLaTO's synergistic linkages with healthy living, environmental stewardship, climate action, and planetary health agendas. Notably, PLaTO terminology, taxonomy and ontology will continue to evolve, and PLaTO-Net is committed to advancing and periodically updating harmonized knowledge and understanding in the vast and interrelated areas of PLaTO.

Associations between children's physical literacy and well-being: is physical activity a mediator?

BACKGROUND: Physical literacy (PL) is a multi-dimensional concept that provides a holistic understanding of movement and physical activity. PL contains an affective, a physical, and a cognitive domain, which together lay the foundation for the individual's capacity and the tendency for participating in physical activities currently and throughout life. PL is increasingly regarded as a 'cause of the causes' to health promotion. Cross-sectional studies have shown associations between children's PL, physical activity behaviours, and well-being. This study aims to examine the associations between Danish children's PL and their physical and psychosocial well-being and whether the associations are mediated by moderate- to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA). METHODS: Cross-sectional data from Danish schoolchildren aged 7-13 years were collected in Jan-Dec 2020 in the Danish Assessment of Physical Literacy (DAPL) project. PL was assessed with the DAPL which measures the affective, cognitive, and physical domains of PL. MVPA (min/day) was measured with accelerometers (Axivity), psychosocial well-being was measured with The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and physical well-being was measured with the KIDSCREEN questionnaire. Structural equation models were constructed with PL and MVPA as predictors of physical well-being and four aspects of psychosocial well-being. RESULTS: A positive moderate association between PL and physical well-being, partly mediated by MVPA was observed. PL was positively associated with the positive aspects of psychosocial well-being and negatively associated with the negative aspects (behaviour problems). None of the associations between PL and aspects of psychosocial well-being were mediated by MVPA. CONCLUSIONS: The study contributes to evidence on the link between PL, physical activity, and health outcomes. The study found beneficial relations between PL and physical and psychosocial well-being. MVPA mediated part of the relationship between PL and physical well-being but not psychosocial well-being.

Getting Out of the Classroom and Into Nature: A Systematic Review of Nature-Specific Outdoor Learning on School Children's Learning and Development.

Background: The value of natural environments for developing children's self-identity and social skills has been known for some time, and more recently the potential of nature-specific (i.e., excluding built environments) outdoor learning for achieving academic outcomes has been explored. Connecting children with natural spaces has been shown to benefit their physical and mental health; however, the utility of nature-specific outdoor environments as a setting for curricular and non-curricular learning has yet to be clearly established. Our aim was to undertake a narrative synthesis of international evidence of nature-specific outdoor learning and its benefits for personal and social development, wellbeing and academic progress. Methods: This systematic review searched publications between 2000 and 2020 in nine academic databases for evidence of socio-emotional and academic benefits of nature-specific outdoor learning in school-aged educational settings, using concise search criteria registered with PROSPERO. The total search results of 17,886 records were initially screened by title, and then two reviewers made blind reviews of the title and abstract of 1,019 records. Results: 147 original research studies meeting the criteria were identified. Learning settings ranged across outdoor adventure education, school gardens, field trips, and traditional school subjects taught in natural environments. Study characteristics were summarized, and risk-of-bias tools assessed quality of research as generally moderate, although with a wide range. The reported benefits of learning in natural outdoor settings include: increased student engagement and ownership of their learning, some evidence of academic improvement, development of social and collaborative skills, and improved self-concept factors. Conclusions: Nature-specific outdoor learning has measurable socio-emotional, academic and wellbeing benefits, and should be incorporated into every child's school experience with reference to their local context. Teacher pre-service and in-service education needs to include a focus on how natural settings can be used effectively for learning. Further research is needed to clarify the conditions under which specific forms of outdoor learning are most efficacious for various target outcomes. It is recommended that future studies measuring outdoor learning adopt established methodologies to improve the quality of research in this field. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=153171.

Cross-sectional associations between adolescents' physical literacy, sport and exercise participation, and wellbeing.

Background: Adolescence is a significant period in one's development of positive emotional and social wellbeing. Physical literacy (PL) is considered a determinant of physical health and wellbeing and is thought to be the foundation for an individual's engagement in physical activities. Yet, limited evidence exists on PL's association with adolescents' health and physical activity behavior. This study aims to (1) explore the associations between Danish adolescents' PL and their emotional and social wellbeing, (2) examine whether these associations are mediated by sport and exercise participation (SEP), and (3) consider if the associations differ across sex. Methods: Cross-sectional data from a national population survey were collected in 2020. The sample consisted of 1,518 Danish adolescents aged 13-15 years. PL was assessed with the validated MyPL questionnaire. The weekly time engaged in sports and exercise was self-reported. Self-esteem, life satisfaction, body satisfaction, and loneliness were measured with items from the standardized HBSC questionnaire, and a wellbeing composite score was calculated from these four measures. We constructed structural equation models with PL and sports and exercise participation as independent variables and the five aspects of wellbeing as dependent variables. Results: Positive associations were observed between PL and SEP (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001) and between PL and the five aspects of wellbeing with ß-values between 0.19 and 0.30 (p < 0.001). These associations were greater among girls. The association between PL and four of the five wellbeing outcomes were partly mediated by SEP with indirect effects (ß) between 0.03 and 0.05. Conclusions: Results from this study support the hypotheses that PL is important for children and adolescents' wellbeing and physical activity behavior.

Is vegetation cover in key behaviour settings important for early childhood socioemotional function? A preregistered, cross-sectional study.

The environmental influences on early childhood development are understudied. The association between vegetation cover (i.e., trees, shrubs, grassed areas) in four key behaviour settings and socioemotional functioning was investigated in 1196 young children (2-5 years). Emotional difficulties were inversely associated with vegetation cover in the home yard (OR: 0.81 [0.69-0.96]) and neighbourhood (OR: 0.79 [0.67-0.94]), but not in early childhood education and care (ECEC) centre outdoor areas or the ECEC neighbourhood. The higher odds of emotional difficulties associated with lower levels of maternal education was reduced with higher percentages of home yard vegetation cover. There was no evidence of mediation of the relationship between emotional difficulties and vegetation cover by time spent playing outside the home, day or nighttime sleep duration, or physical activity. We found no associations between vegetation cover and conduct, hyperactivity and inattention, peer difficulties, or prosocial behaviours. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3HeEiIjVZc.

Education outside the classroom as upstream school health promotion: 'adding-in' physical activity into children's everyday life and settings.

INTRODUCTION: It is central for public health to answer questions related to how to change health and wellbeing in populations through interdisciplinarity and health in all policies and sectors. For a school physical activity promotion initiative to be acceptable and thus feasible, the buy-in of teachers is fundamental. Therefore, school physical activity promotion should be integrated into and support teaching activities. AIMS: We discuss the use of education outside the classroom as a feasible pedagogical approach that integrates and promotes physical activity for school children. METHODS: We present and discuss theoretical arguments and empirical evidence to argue and illustrate that education outside the classroom is a promising approach for promoting physical activity. RESULTS: Education outside the classroom is characterised by regular curriculum-based experiential teaching activities outside the classroom with the inclusion of physical activity as a means to pedagogical ends. School subjects are taught outside the classroom drawing on problem-based learning and experiential education. Here, physical activity is integrated without compromising curriculum goals which increases teacher buy-in and thereby intervention acceptability and feasibility. Empirical evidence suggests that education outside the classroom increases boys' moderate to vigorous physical activity and girls' light intensity physical activity. We contend that the mechanisms are a mix of place, pedagogy and pupil motivations. CONCLUSIONS: Education outside the classroom is a feasible and acceptable approach to public health and physical activity promotion because it is integrated into children's everyday settings through curriculum time and applied broadly to child populations at a low cost. The practice of education outside the classroom is context-dependent and culturally bound, and practices therefore need to be adapted to the individual sociocultural context.

Translation and validation of the Canadian assessment of physical literacy-2 in a Danish sample.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to translate the Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy, second edition (CAPL-2) into Danish language, adapt it to Danish context and to test the measurement properties on a sample of Danish school children. METHODS: The CAPL-2 measurement tool was translated into Danish language and adapted for the Danish context. This Danish version of the CAPL-2 was then tested on 891 Danish school children from 50 classes in 12 different schools. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis using the four-factor model, as suggested by the CAPL-2 original developers, showed an acceptable model fit for the Danish version (CFI = .973; TLI = .957; RMSEA = 0.040 (90% CI 0.033-0.054); SRMR = 0.040). Positive significant correlations between the domains were found. The domains as well as the total CAPL-2 score were found to be positively associated with physical education teachers' assessment of their pupil's in four central aspects of PL (i.e. enjoyment, confidence, motor skills, and diversity) indicating predictive validity. High internal consistency of the instrument used to measure motivation and confidence domain were found. CONCLUSION: The translated and context-adapted Danish version of CAPL-2 is a valid and reliable measurement tool ready to use in Danish research studies.

Exploring the importance of diversified physical activities in early childhood for later motor competence and physical activity level: a seven-year longitudinal study.

BACKGROUND: Research indicates that childhood motor competence (MC) can predict physical activity (PA) levels later in life and it has been argued that frequently engaging in a wide diversity of physical activities will eventually improve children's MC. However, no longitudinal or experimental studies have confirmed this theoretical rationale. The aims of this study are to explore the longitudinal associations between diversified physical activities at age six and later MC and PA (time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA) (age nine and 13). Furthermore, we explore to what extent the longitudinal association between diversified physical activity and PA is mediated by MC. METHODS: Longitudinal data from the Copenhagen School Intervention Study were used for this analysis, where 704 participated (69% response rate). Diversified physical activity (self-reported), MC (The Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder battery of postural stability and locomotor skills) and PA (accelerometer) were assessed in the children at age six, age nine and age 13. A total of 654 participated in at least two of the measures and, therefore, were included in the analysis. Two structural equation models were constructed, with diversified physical activity at age six and MC and PA at age nine as predictors of PA and MC at age 13. RESULTS: The data from both models demonstrated good model fit. Diversified physical activity at 6 years of age was significantly associated with physical activity and MC at age 13, when adjusting for sex, age, intervention, weight, height, and previous levels of PA and MC. Diversified physical activity at age six was also positively associated with PA and MC at age nine, which were, in turn, positively related to PA at age 13 but to a lesser degree than diversified PA at age six. The association between diversified physical activity at age six and PA at age 13 was not mediated by MC at age nine. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that diversified physical activity at age six is important for the development of MC and PA in adolescence. Increasing the diversity of children's daily physical activities, not only the amount and intensity, seems important for future PA behavior and thereby health promotion in a life course perspective.