Reliability and Concurrent Validity of Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ): A Systematic Review.

This study aimed to systematically review previous studies on the reliability and concurrent validity of the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ). A systematic literature search was conducted (n = 26) using the online EBSCOHost databases, PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar up to September 2019. A previously developed coding sheet was used to collect the data. The Modified Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies was employed to assess risk of bias and study quality. It was found that GPAQ was primarily revalidated in adult populations in Asian and European countries. The sample size ranged from 43 to 2657 with a wide age range (i.e., 15-79 years old). Different populations yielded inconsistent results concerning the reliability and validity of the GPAQ. Short term (i.e., one- to two-week interval) and long-term (i.e., two- to three-month apart) test-retest reliability was good to very good. The concurrent validity using accelerometers, pedometers, and physical activity (PA) log was poor to fair. The GPAQ data and accelerometer/pedometer/PA log data were not compared using the same measurements in some validation studies. Studies with more rigorous research designs are needed before any conclusions concerning the concurrent validity of GPAQ can be reached.

The Role of School in Helping Children and Adolescents Reach the Physical Activity Recommendations: The UP&DOWN Study.

BACKGROUND: The aims were to: (1) examine the levels of physical activity (PA) during different time periods (ie, daily PA, school hour PA, recess PA, physical education classes [PEC] PA) in children and adolescents; and (2) identify the rate of compliance with the specific PA recommendations for these time periods. METHODS: The participants were 1925 (940 girls) children and adolescents from 40 Spanish schools. Hip-worn accelerometers were used to assess PA during different time periods. RESULTS: Boys and children were more physically active and had a greater percentage meeting the daily PA recommendation and the school-based PA recommendation than girls and adolescents, respectively. Compliance with daily PA recommendation was markedly higher than that with the school-based PA recommendation, regardless of sex and age groups (ie, 80.4% vs 24.1% for daily and school-based PA recommendations, respectively, in child boys). A very low percentage (ie, 9.7% and 1.2% of child boys with almost 50% of moderate-to-vigorous PA during recess and PEC, respectively) of students reached the recommended PA levels for recess and PEC. CONCLUSIONS: Physical activity levels during school hours, recess, and PEC in children and adolescents are very low. Promoting PA in school settings is essential, especially in girls and adolescents.

Tracking Changes of Chinese Pre-Service Teachers' Aerobic Fitness, Body Mass Index, and Grade Point Average Over 4-years of College.

Although increasing attention has been given to student academic achievement, usually measured by grade point average (GPA), and fitness in children and adolescents, much fewer studies have been conducted in higher education settings, especially in China. This study investigated the longitudinal associations of aerobic fitness (AF), body mass index (BMI), and GPA in Chinese pre-service teachers at a university. A longitudinal research design was employed to track changes in AF, BMI, and GPA, for a total of 1980 students for four years. Multi-level growth models were used to examine the interactive changes of the above three variables. It was found that GPA and BMI increased each year, while AF declined dramatically at the fourth year. The three-way interaction among GPA, gender, and BMI was significant, suggesting females who were overweight/obese had lower GPA. The data from the current study suggested that AF did not impact students' GPA. Class standing (i.e., the fourth year) and gender (i.e., females) need to be taken into consideration when designing interventions to improve student overall fitness and academic performance in Chinese pre-service teacher populations.

State Physical Education Policy Changes From 2001 to 2016.

BACKGROUND: State policies influence the quantity and quality of educational programs delivered in schools. This study examined state physical education policy changes from 2001 to 2016 by analyzing data reported in The Shape of the Nation Report. METHODS: Policies related to state mandates for physical education, time/credit requirements, assessment and fitness testing requirements, adoption of state standards, and allowance of substitutions were analyzed over 5 editions of the report using repeated measures statistics. RESULTS: A majority of state physical education-related policies have not changed over the past 15 years despite calls by numerous public health agencies for enhanced physical education in schools. There was, however, a significant increase in the number of states adopting teaching standards and requiring assessment and fitness testing in physical education, mirroring a broader shift in education toward standards, assessment, and accountability. CONCLUSIONS: Despite improved rigor in physical education through the adoption of standards and assessment practices, physical education continues to be marginalized in schools by a lack of curricular time and inappropriate substitution policies. Stronger policies are needed for physical education to have a substantial impact on school health.

Effects of a Three-Tiered Intervention Model on Physical Activity and Fitness Levels of Elementary School Children.

Response to intervention (RtI) models are frequently used in schools to tailor academic instruction to the needs of students. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of using RtI to promote physical activity (PA) and fitness in one urban elementary school. Ninety-nine students in grades 2-5 participated in up to three tiers of intervention throughout the course of one school year. Tier one included 150 min/week of physical education (increased from 90 min/week the previous year) and coordinated efforts to improve school health. Tier two consisted of 30 min/week of small group instruction based on goal setting and social support. Tier three included an after-school program for parents and children focused on healthy living. PA, cardiovascular fitness, and body composition were assessed before and after the interventions using pedometers, a 20-m shuttle run, and height/weight measurements. From pre- to post-testing, PA remained relatively stable in tier one and increased by 2349 steps/day in tier two. Cardiovascular fitness increased in tiers one and two by 1.17 and 1.35 ml/kg/min, respectively. Although body mass index did not change, 17 of the 99 students improved their weight status over the course of the school year, resulting in an overall decline in the prevalence of overweight/obesity from 59.6 to 53.5 %. Preliminary results suggest that the RtI model can be an effective way to structure PA/health interventions in an elementary school setting.

Association of sleep patterns with psychological positive health and health complaints in children and adolescents.

PURPOSE: Psychological positive health and health complaints have long been ignored scientifically. Sleep plays a critical role in children and adolescents development. We aimed at studying the association of sleep duration and quality with psychological positive health and health complaints in children and adolescents from southern Spain. METHODS: A randomly selected two-phase sample of 380 healthy Caucasian children (6-11.9 years) and 304 adolescents (12-17.9 years) participated in the study. Sleep duration (total sleep time), perceived sleep quality (morning tiredness and sleep latency), psychological positive health and health complaints were assessed using the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children questionnaire. RESULTS: The mean (standard deviation [SD]) reported sleep time for children and adolescents was 9.6 (0.6) and 8.8 (0.6) h/day, respectively. Sleep time ≥10 h was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of reporting no health complaints (OR 2.3; P = 0.005) in children, whereas sleep time ≥9 h was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of overall psychological positive health and no health complaints indicators (OR ~ 2; all P < 0.05) in adolescents. Reporting better sleep quality was associated with an increased likelihood of reporting excellent psychological positive health (ORs between 1.5 and 2.6; all P < 0.05). Furthermore, children and adolescents with no difficulty falling asleep were more likely to report no health complaints (OR ~ 3.5; all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Insufficient sleep duration and poor perceived quality of sleep might directly impact quality of life in children, decreasing general levels of psychological positive health and increasing the frequency of having health complaints.

Association of weekly strength exercise frequency and academic performance among students at a large university in the United States.

The study aimed to examine (a) the association between weekly strength exercise frequency and grade point average (GPA), and (b) the demographic characteristics of weekly strength exercise frequency among undergraduate students at a large southern state university in the United States. Health behavior data (N = 1125) collected by the American College Health Association at the university in 2008 were analyzed. Analysis of variance was used to investigate weekly strength exercise frequency differences in GPA, sex, ethnicity, and year in university. The results revealed that those who more frequently engaged in strength exercise had significantly higher GPA. There was a significant difference in weekly strength exercise frequency by sex and ethnicity. Findings suggest that regular engagement in strength exercise may not only have physical health benefits but is also associated with academic achievement in high education. There is a need to further investigate the mechanism of strength exercise on GPA among university students.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and fatness are associated with health complaints and health risk behaviors in youth.

BACKGROUND: We examined the association of cardiorespiratory fitness and fatness with health complaints and health risk behaviors in 691 (323 girls) Spanish children aged 6 to 17.9. METHODS: Health complaints and health risk behaviors were self-reported using items of the Health Behavior in School-aged Children questionnaire. Weight and height were measured and body mass index was computed. Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by the 20-m shuttle-run test, and youth categorized as fit/unfit. RESULTS: Unfit youth were more likely to report health complaints sometime (OR: 2.556, 95% CI: 1.299-5.031; and OR: 1.997, 95% CI: 1.162-3.433, respectively) and health risk behaviors such as drinking alcohol sometime (OR: 5.142, 95% CI: 1.214-21.783; and OR: 2.413, 95% CI: 1.484-3.923) than their fit counterparts. Overweight-obese youth were more likely to report health complaints (OR: 1.732, 95% CI: 1.019-2.945; and OR: 1.983, 95% CI: 1.083-3.629, respectively). The analysis of the combined influence of fitness and fatness revealed that fit youth had lower health complaints index than the fat-unfit and unfat-unfit groups (all P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Low fitness and overweight-obesity increased the risk of having health complaints in youth, yet high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness might overcome deleterious effects of overweight-obesity on health complaints.

The influence of physical education on physical activity levels of urban elementary students.

The purpose of this study was to examine the role of physical education in shaping physical activity patterns. Seventy-one Hispanic and African American elementary students participated in the study. Students attended one 30- and one 60-min physical education class weekly. Pedometer steps were used to estimate physical activity. Data suggest that students did not engage in enough physical activity on a daily basis to incur health benefits. There were significant step differences in 0-, 30-, and 60-min physical education days, with the most steps occurring on 60-min days. Results from the study suggest physical education may be an important source of physical activity for Hispanic and African American students, especially girls, and may influence participation in physical activity outside of class.

Percentile values for running sprint field tests in children ages 6-17 years: influence of weight status.

The aim of this study was to provide percentile values for six different sprint tests in 2,708 Spanish children (1,234 girls) ages 6-17.9 years. We also examined the influence of weight status on sprint performance across age groups, with a focus on underweight and obese groups. We used the 20-m, 30-m, and 50-m running sprint standing start and running start tests to assess sprint performance. We calculated body mass index (BMI) using and categorized participants according to the BMI international cut-off for underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. Boys had significantly better scores than girls in all tests, except for the 30-m running sprint standing start and running start tests in the 6-7 year-old group. The underweight group had significantly better scores than their obese counterparts, whereas there were similar levels between underweight and normal weight individuals. The normal weight group showed a significantly better performance than their overweight and obese counterparts. Overweight boys had significantly better performance than their obese counterparts. In conclusion, the percentiles values of six running tests varied by age and gender The findings indicated that underweight youth did not have poorer sprint performance, and the obese group had lower scores than their leaner counterparts.

Changes in K-12 physical education programs from 2001 to 2006.

In this study, we investigated the changes in physical education programs from 2001 to 2006 based on an analysis of data reported in The Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2006). Means and standard deviations for numeric variables in the reports were computed, and percentages were calculated for the categorical variables. The data indicated a significant increase from 2001 to 2006 in establishing state physical education standards. Mandated class size at all educational levels and required physical education units for high school graduation remained the same. The requirement for physical education assessment and mandated fitness testing did not increase significantly. Furthermore, there was no significant improvement in state regulations.

Urban minority ninth-grade students' health-related fitness knowledge.

The purpose of the study was to examine Hispanic and other minority ninth-grade students' health-related fitness (HRF) knowledge, using FitSmart, a standardized test for high school students. The test consisted of 50 weighted multiple choice items, measuring six subcontent components. Means and standard deviations of the overall scores and the subcontent scores were computed. The findings suggested that students demonstrated mastery of one subcontent component but failed to meet passing values for all other subcontents and overall HRF knowledge. Female students outscored their male counterparts, but there was no difference for ethnicity. More efforts are needed to ensure that Hispanic and other minority high school students master fundamental HRF knowledge.

Percentile values for muscular strength field tests in children aged 6 to 17 years: influence of weight status.

The aim of this study was to provide percentile values for 9 different muscular strength tests for Spanish children (1,513 boys and 1,265 girls) aged 6 to 17.9 years. The influence of body weight on the muscular strength level across age groups was also examined. Explosive strength was assessed by the throw ball test (upper body), standing broad jump, and vertical jump tests (lower body). Upper-body muscular endurance was assessed by push ups, bent arm hang, and pull ups tests, and abdominal muscular endurance was assessed by sit ups, curl ups in 30 seconds, and curl ups tests. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated. Participants were categorized according to the BMI international cut-off values as underweight, normalweight, overweight, and obese. Boys had significantly better scores than girls in all the studied tests, except in the 3 upper-body muscular endurance tests in the 6- to 7-year-old group and in the push ups test in the 8- to 9-year-old group. Underweight and normalweight individuals showed similar strength levels. Both underweight and normalweight children and adolescents had significantly higher performance than their overweight and obese counterparts in the lower-body explosive strength tests and in the push ups test in boys and bent arm hang test in both boys and girls. In conclusion, percentiles values of 9 muscular strength tests are provided. Percentiles values are of interest to identify the target population for primary prevention and to estimate the proportion of adolescents with high or low muscular strength levels. The overweight and obese groups had worse scores than their underweight and normalweight counterparts, whereas the underweight group had a similar performance to the normalweight group.

A meta-analysis of college students' physical activity behaviors.

The authors reviewed studies on college students' physical activity (PA) behaviors and found that previous research on this topic focused on describing college students' PA patterns and their determinants. Researchers reported that about 40% to 50% of college students are physically inactive. More important, health and PA professionals in higher education have not been able to effectively increase students' PA behaviors. Interventions to promote students' PA are still at an early stage and have only produced moderate effects. The authors found primary problems with the current research on this topic to be 3-fold: (1) college students' PA has been seriously neglected as a research topic, (2) there is a lack of multiple-level approaches (ie, personal, psychosocial, and environmental levels) for examining PA behaviors in the college student population, and (3) measures of PA are subjective and inconsistent, which makes comparisons of PA patterns among different samples very difficult or impossible.

A descriptive analysis of research methods classes in departments of kinesiology and physical education in the United States.

Research training takes many forms and is generally a part of graduate education. A common and important aspect of research training is the introductory research methods class offered by many departments. The purpose of this study was to examine the content, process, and instructors of introductory research methods classes in departments of kinesiology and physical education in the United States. A survey was designed and extensively pilot tested. The sample was selected from all departments offering graduate degrees in the United States. Among the many results, the data indicate that one book was required reading in more than half the classes and class size averaged about 19 students. A number of objectives were statedfor most classes, with understanding research, applying research to professional situations, critiquing the research literature, and planning research indicated most often. Quantitative design and analysis topics were emphasized more strongly than qualitative design and analysis topics. Professors indicated that more than half the class time was spent lecturing and most grades were based on exams, preparation of a research proposal, and regular assignments. The professors were relatively experienced, had a variety ofspecialty areas, and were reasonably productive researchers. The trends suggest that alternative research methodologies have not been quickly added to the research methods curriculum.