Whilst the fitness testing debate has become more nuanced over time, the voice that is often absent from discussions is that of students. Located within the 'big tent' of critical pedagogy, and using an expansive learning approach that is grounded in cultural historical activity theory, this paper responds to the following research questions: (i)…

Afterschool programs continue to make advances when it comes to providing students with nutritious foods, keeping them physically fit and promoting health. Such programs have great potential to help prevent obesity and instill lifelong healthy habits, serving more than 10 million children and youth across America, with more than 19 million more…

Background: Internationally 18% of youth are obese. Fitness testing can be used to establish fitness surveillance, which can inform policy and targeted interventions aimed at addressing obesity. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and low fitness in Idaho school-aged youth through a pilot study.…

American children today are fatter, less fit, and more sedentary than their 1960s counterparts. Teachers mistakenly assume that participation in a general activity program is sufficient to develop and maintain physical fitness. Health-related fitness, defined as optimal functioning of the heart, lungs, and muscles, improves with activities to…

The aim of the study was to examine the effect of a 4-week classroom physical activity break intervention on middle school students' health-related physical fitness. The study was a randomized controlled trial with students assigned to the experiment and control conditions. A convenience sample comprised 94 adolescents (experiment group n = 52;…

Introduction: The aims of this study were to examine cross-sectional, and longitudinal association of different measures of obesity and physical fitness with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in adolescents with Down syndrome. Methods: Longitudinal analysis included 90 adolescents with Down syndrome. Obesity and physical fitness were…

Background: Most United States schools include school-based physical fitness testing (SB-PFT), yet little evidence shows how it is implemented, perceived, and used. Purpose: 1) Explore stakeholders' experiences with SB-PFT; 2) identify: challenges in analyzing fitness data, ways schools can use fitness data, and predictors of meeting fitness…

Objective: Fitness trackers are appealing in public health intervention programmes aimed at promoting physical activity, but it is unclear whether tracker use leads to health behaviour change in soldiers. This programme evaluation investigated the effects of fitness tracker usage on goal-setting, self-monitoring and physical activity behaviours in…

Health saving-based educational technologies aim to provide a combination of children's needs, motivations, knowledge, optimal health level and normal physical development. In this study, the effect of the health-saving educational technologies program applied to secondary school students in increasing their physical fitness, self-efficacy in…

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of rope jumping exercise on the health-related physical fitness of visually impaired students. The participants' physical fitness was examined before and after the training. The exercise intensity of the experimental group was controlled with Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE) (values…

Urban American Indians lack access to tribal services and traditional cultures. Youth programs for urban American Indians in Rapid City, South Dakota; Phoenix, Arizona; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Lincoln, Nebraska are described. Substance abuse, dropping out, physical fitness, health, and self-esteem issues are addressed through Native language,…

Although physical education (PE) provides a school-based platform for the enhancement of learners' physical health, implementation challenges can have a detrimental effect on learners' motivation to participate in physical activities and their fitness levels. Within the framework of the Self-determination Theory (SDT), meeting learners' basic…

At the final session of the January conference on Contemporary Elementary and Middle School Physical Education, 40 discussions and workshops centered on physical fitness, health, safety, and adapting athletics for the disabled child. Other topics covered were creative dance, water activities, lifetime sports, and teacher resource materials and…

Purpose: The authors assessed common content knowledge of health-related fitness in a national representative sample of preservice physical education teachers in the United States. Methods: Six hundred and twenty-one preservice physical education teachers from 68 physical education teacher education (PETE) programs located in different regions in…

This article defines physical education as including movement, play, physical fitness, and health. (CD)