The Connection between Non-Alcoholic Fatty-Liver Disease, Dietary Behavior, and Food Literacy in German Working Adults.

(1) Background: German working adults are particularly at risk of non-alcoholic fatty-liver disease (NAFLD), which is connected to increased cardiovascular and overall morbidity and mortality. Dietary behavior (DB) and health knowledge are crucial factors in the conceptual NAFLD model, which can directly influence this disease. These two factors largely align with the concept of food literacy (FL), which deals with proficiency in food-related skills and knowledge to promote healthy DB and prevent NAFLD. However, the potential of FL for NAFLD prevention remains unknown, because FL has not been tested in connection with DB and NAFLD. Therefore, the current study examined the direct and indirect connections between FL, DB, and NAFLD in a mediation model. (2) Methods: A total of 372 working adults (38% female) participated in a cross-sectional study by completing self-report questionnaires on FL and DB. In addition, an independent physician assessed the fatty-liver index (FLI) as an indicator of NAFLD in an occupational health checkup. (3) Results: The mediation model revealed that FL had a direct moderate connection with DB (ß = 0.25, p < 0.01), but no direct connection with the FLI (ß = -0.05, p = 0.36). However, DB showed a small to moderate connection with the FLI (ß = -0.14, p = 0.01), which could indicate the indirect-only mediation of the relationship between FL and NAFLD via DB. (4) Conclusion: These results confirm the value of DB for the prevention of NAFLD. In addition, FL might be a vital component for improving DB and thereby function as a resource in the prevention of NAFLD. However, future longitudinal research is needed to substantiate the value of FL with respect to NAFLD.

Knowing Students' Characteristics: Opportunities to Adapt Physical Education Teaching.

Physical Education (PE) aims to convey the joy of exercise and by this educate students to lifelong physical activeness. Student motivation in PE decreases during the school career. This study therefore comprehensively analyzes student characteristics determining motivation in PE: General Personality Traits, Physical Self-Concept, Achievement Motive, Motives to be physically active, and Sports Interest. This contribution aims to describe students' prerequisites in the PE context by using an aggregated assessment of the abovementioned general plus sport specific characteristics and to detect gender, class, and school type differences. In total, 1,740 German secondary school students (58.1% female, M = 14.39 years) participate in a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. Descriptive analyses and between subjects MANOVAs followed by univariate ANOVAs with pairwise multiple comparison tests are applied. Gender explains the largest proportion of variance across all characteristics. Regarding individual dimensions, genders differed on 12, grades on two and school types on 11 out of 19 dimensions. PE teachers must adapt teaching to different gender dispositions. In general, group differences ascribe special meaning to student perception and teaching behavior. Findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to the research area and their implementation in teaching practice as well as in PE teacher education or professional training, e.g., aligned teaching methods, arranged learning atmospheres, or adjusted content design of PE lessons.

What makes a physical education teacher? Personal characteristics for physical education development.

BACKGROUND: The physical education (PE) teacher is a decisive factor for PE development and teaching. Reflecting on and making the best possible use of the PE teachers' personal resources positively influence teacher effectiveness and student achievement. This requires a comprehensive analysis of PE teachers' personal characteristics. AIMS: Consequently, this study aimed to describe PE teachers by using an aggregated examination of PE teachers' synergistic personal characteristics and analysing gender, age, and school type differences. SAMPLE: 1,163 German PE teachers (61.9% female; M = 43.16 ± 10.8 years) from six different school types participated in the study. METHODS: Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing PE teachers' General Personality Traits, General Interests, and Motivational Characteristics (Teacher Self-Efficacy, Enthusiasm, and Interests). Descriptive analyses, between subjects MANOVAs, and univariate ANOVAs with pairwise multiple comparison tests were applied. RESULTS: Multivariate gender differences occurred for General Personality Traits (η2 = .04), General Interests (η2 = .07), and Motivational Characteristics (η2 = .03); age differences for General Personality Traits (η2 = .03); school type differences for General Personality Traits (η2 = .05); and Motivational Characteristics (η2 = .11). Considering individual dimensions, gender revealed most univariate differences, especially in General Personality Traits and General Interests. School types revealed most univariate differences in Motivational Characteristics. CONCLUSION: The educational personnel can (1) make use of the PE teachers' general stable factors by aligning teaching accordingly, for example considering teachers' gender and (2) specifically foster PE teacher personal development regarding Motivational Characteristics by, for example adapting teacher education or professional training to the particular school type.

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior of Children in Afterschool Programs: An Accelerometer-Based Analysis in Full-Day and Half-Day Elementary Schools in Germany.

Background: Regular physical activity (PA) and reduced sedentary behavior (SB) are positively related to children's health and considered as pillars of a healthy lifestyle. Full-day schools with their afterschool programs (ASPs) have an impact on children's daily PA and SB. Studies investigating PA and SB in ASPs, which compare PA and SB between the organizational forms full-day and half-day schools, are rare. The aim of this study is to describe elementary school children's PA and SB during ASPs and to compare the results to other time periods of the day, e.g., teaching hours and leisure time. Additionally, PA and SB of children in full-day and half-day schools are compared. Further, relevant factors influencing the achievement of the World Health Organization's (WHO's) PA guidelines for children, e.g., time spent in ASPs, are investigated. Methods: PA and SB of 332 German students (n = 198 full-day school children; n = 134 half-day school children) from 11 different elementary schools were measured via accelerometry for 5 consecutive days within one school week in 2017. PA and SB during ASPs and other times of the day were analyzed via one-way and factorial ANOVA, correlation, and logistic regression. Results: Children attending full-day schools show the highest percentage of moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (13.7%) and the lowest percentage of SB (49.5%) during ASPs, in comparison with teaching hours and leisure time. In the afternoon hours, full-day school children show 20 min less SB than half-day school children. Children spending more time in ASPs obtain significantly more SB (r = 0.23) and less MVPA (r = -0.15). Further, they less likely reach WHO's PA guidelines odds ratio (OR = 0.98). Conclusion: Peers and the choice as well as offer of extracurricular activities promote PA in ASPs. Media availability leads to higher SB in leisure time. ASPs help to be more active and less sedentary. Time spent in ASPs should be limited, so that full-day school children still have the possibility to join other PA offers in leisure time. ASP time should contain a certain minimum amount of MVPA in line with ASP guidelines.

Inside Out: A Scoping Review on the Physical Education Teacher's Personality.

The teacher's personality in general plays an important role in the educational process. It is often examined in relation to outcome factors on the teacher or student side, e.g., teaching effectiveness or student motivation. Physical education (PE) with its peculiarities and allocated educational mandate particularly demands the personality of the PE teacher. Research considering this group of teachers is sparse, diverse and hard to capture due to different personality understandings. Our review therefore aims at identifying and analyzing underlying personality understandings, research questions and results of studies considering the personality of the PE teacher. We conducted a scoping review. After the screening and additional analyses process, 23 studies were included. Included references had to be empirical, published in German or English and explicitly examine the PE teacher's personality as variable or mention it as outcome factor in school context. All studies are cross-sectional, 22 studies quantitative, one qualitative. Regarding personality understandings, 12 studies follow a trait psychological, six studies a vocational, one study an interpersonal personality understanding. Four studies' personality understanding is not concretely determinable. Considering research questions, three studies aim at identifying the PE teacher's personality in general and do, e.g., not find considerable differences between the PE teacher's and other teacher's personality. Nine studies examine the relationship between the PE teacher's personality and different correlates such as burnout, highlighting, e.g., that female PE teachers' burnout process is less homogeneous than males. Eleven studies examine the PE teacher's personality from an external view and show, e.g., that students of different age groups perceive the PE teacher's personality differently. Our review offers possible practical implications. By e.g., knowing their personality structure - their inside -, PE teachers can play to their own strengths and make use of their individual personality configuration in order to teach authentically and successfully, i.e., transferring the inside to the outside. Due to partly questionable and fragmentary methodologies of the included studies, results have to be interpreted with caution. More studies considering the PE teacher's personality following a broad personality understanding are needed to include potentially relevant factors for teaching and by this receive evident insights.

Who Are Our Students? Understanding Students' Personality for Refined and Targeted Physical Education. A Scoping Review.

Students' personality is an essential component in order to plan and teach physical education (PE) lessons according to students' individual needs. Additionally, personality formation in general is part of the educational mandate and student personality development specifically is considered as an elementary goal of PE. Although student personality is a central topic in the PE context, the state of research, especially regarding the underlying personality understandings, is diverse and hard to capture. Therefore, this scoping review aims to (I) describe the underlying personality understandings and (II) analyze research questions and results of studies examining students' personality in PE. We conducted a scoping review. Eleven databases were chosen because of their specification within the field of education, sports and health sciences. We included references if they empirically examined students' personality in PE and were published in German or English. Twenty-four studies were included in the review. Fifteen of the included studies were cross-sectional, nine longitudinal. Regarding aim I), the underlying personality understandings were inconsistent across the studies but most of the studies followed trait theory. Considering aim II), the included studies investigated relationships between students' personality and either (a) students' achievement in PE, (b) students' psychological determinants of PE participation (e.g., motivation, anxiety), or (c) a school sports intervention. Results indicated that e.g., extraverted students tend to enjoy PE more and obtain less anxiety in PE. The review showed that students' personality in PE is empirically examined but the studies' underlying personality understandings, research questions and results are diverse. Findings highlight that PE contributes to students' personality development. Additionally, the review showed that results of personality research in PE context can be used in order to teach PE in a student-centered way (e.g., by deducing the detected relationships considering extraversion) and by this support students' lifelong physical activity. Further and targeted research in this field can help PE teachers to tailor their teaching to their students' needs. This increases the chances to achieve PE's two main goals-"educating to sports (e.g., personality-aligned lessons addressing different motives)" and "educating through sports (e.g., personality development)" in the long term.