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Chapter 1: Physical Activity and the School Program. August 29, 2012. The Problem and Why Physical Activity Is Important. Prevalence of overweight children has doubled in past 20 years (to 18.8% in 2004). Overweight children = overweight adults.
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Chapter 1: Physical Activity and the School Program August 29, 2012
The Problem and Why Physical Activity Is Important • Prevalence of overweight children has doubled in past 20 years (to 18.8% in 2004). • Overweight children = overweight adults. • Obesity is second only to smoking as a cause of premature death. • Obesity is a major cause of chronic diseases that are preventable. • It is a major burden on the economy.
How Did We Get in This Shape? • Lifestyle issues • Technology • Less physical labor (better appliances, hired workers) • Environment (unsafe neighborhoods) • Sedentary activities occupy too much time. • School programs • No Child Left Behind emphasizes academics. • Physical education (PE) programs and time for PE have decreased. (continued)
How Did We Get in This Shape? (continued) • Community changes • Schools farther away, less walking to school • Many places are only accessible by car (think big shopping centers) • Gyms and fitness centers costly • Busy schedules
The Contributions of Physical Activity • Growth and development • Builds strong bones and muscles • Controls blood pressure and cholesterol levels • Benefits all systems in the body (continued)
The Contributions of Physical Activity (continued) • Social and emotional well-being • Play is an important human behavior. • Physical play is a major contributor to the development of social skills and the well-being of adults. • Children who develop skills early in life become participants later in life. (continued)
The Contributions of Physical Activity (continued) • Cognitive functioning and academic performance • PA enhances cognitive functioning (children need breaks!). • PA increases academic performance (common misconception that it decreases). • More attentive, fewer behavior problems • PA is a great medium for learning academic content. • PA decreases behavior problems in classrooms.
Physical Activity, Fitness, and Exercise • Physical activity (PA): Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that results in energy expenditure. • Exercise: A subset of physical activity that is planned, structured, and repetitive and is done to improve or maintain physical fitness. • “Purposeful” • Physical fitness: A set of attributes that are either health or skill related
Fitness • Health-related: • Cardiorespiratory endurance • Flexibility • Body composition • Muscular strength • Muscular endurance • Skill-related: Balance, agility, power, reaction time, speed, and coordination
Relationship Between Fitness and Physical Activity • For young children the relationship is not strong. • Effort should focus on physical activity and not fitness. • Fitness will follow participation in physical activity. • Emphasis should be on health-related fitness in the school program.
Factors That Affect Physical Activity • Gender (Boys more active) • Age (Younger children more active) • Race (White children more active than black children) • Success in physical activities (Children with confidence in abilities more active) • Perception of value of PA (Children who perceive the benefits as positive more active) • Parent activity (Children with active parents more active) • Where you live (Children with convenient access to places to be active are more active) • Others?
National Recommendations for Physical Activity • Should get majority of the PA from lifestyle activities. • At least some PA should come from either active aerobic activities or active sport and recreation. • It is also important to maintain flexibility and muscular strength through activities that make you stretch or overload the muscles. • Long periods of inactivity are to be avoided at all ages. (continued)
National Recommendations for Physical Activity (continued) • Physical activity does not have to be strenuous to be beneficial. • The level of intensity is typically described as moderate or vigorous and is based upon the amount of energy used by the body during activity.
Physical Activity Recommendations for Children • Children should participate in several short bouts of physical activity in a day. • Children should be encouraged and provided opportunities to participate in a variety of activities that are • Age appropriate • Enjoyable (continued)
Physical Activity Recommendations for Children (continued) • Children should do 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily. The activity time should include: • Aerobic activity: Should be mostly at a moderate or vigorous intensity level and should include vigorous intensity at least three days per week • Muscle strengthening: At least three days/week • Bone strengthening: At least three days/week (continued)
Physical Activity Recommendations for Children (continued) • Children have short attention spans, and long-duration activities do not keep their attention. • The idea of “future health” is usually not effective in motivating children. They need evidence of success for motivation. • Children need more intermittent activity with frequent short recovery periods. (continued)
Physical Activity Recommendations for Children (continued) • Self-efficacy (a feeling that you can be successful) in physical activity is important to build in younger years to promote a lifetime of physical activity adherence. • Children can learn to be inactive if they are not given the opportunities to be active when they are young.
Physical Activity Recommendations for Adolescents • A minimum of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity most days of the week and 20 minutes of vigorous activity at least three days of the week. • Two models for adolescents: • Lifetime Activity Model (e.g. yard work, housework, games and sports) • Exercise Prescription Model (e.g. jogging, exercise machines, curl-ups, push-ups, weight training) (continued)
Physical Activity Recommendations for Adolescents (continued) • Only about half of U.S. adolescents (ages 12-21) regularly participate in vigorous physical activity. • Adolescents can sustain longer bouts of more intense activities than children. • They need to include Level 3 activities.
Physical Activity Recommendations for Adults • A minimum of 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity most days of the week (e.g., brisk walking). • A minimum of 20 minutes of vigorous-intensity physical activity (e.g., jogging, running, using aerobic gym equipment) three days per week. • Strength training (e.g., weightlifting) should be incorporated two days per week.
Solutions Come With a Comprehensive Approach • Communities • Schools • Parents • Government policy making