Many afterschool physical activity programs and curricula are available, but evaluation of their effectiveness is needed. Well-marketed programs such as the Child and Adolescent Trial for Cardiovascular Health (CATCH) Kids Club have shown limited effectiveness in increasing physical activity for participants in comparison to control groups.…

Background: Comprehensive school physical activity programming (CSPAP) has been shown to increase school day physical activity and health-related fitness. The use of goal setting may further enhance the outcomes of CSPAP. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of physical activity leader (PAL) goal setting on school day…

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in Americans. Rural African American (AA) adults are disproportionately affected by CVD--a disease whose risk can be mitigated by a healthy diet and regular physical activity. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Living in Victory Everyday…

Background: The effectiveness of school-based physical activity interventions for improving cardiopulmonary fitness (CPF) of overweight and obese children is not well established. In this study, we evaluated whether overweight and obese children had similar changes in body mass index (BMI) and CPF as normal weight children after participating in a…

Recently, concern over firefighter health and wellness in the United States has escalated due to increasing obesity rates, on-duty cardiovascular event risk, and job stress. A range of barriers to health and wellness have been identified within firefighter culture, but the way these barriers manifest in firefighters' lives is not well-understood.…

Purpose: Single motherhood has been associated with negative health consequences such as depression and cardiovascular disease. Physical activity might reduce these consequences, but little is known about physical activity experiences and beliefs that might inform interventions and programs for single mothers. The present study used…

Purpose: Patterns of physical activity (PA) and sedentary time, including volume of bouted activity, are important health indicators. However, the effect of accelerometer epoch length on measurement of these patterns and associations with health outcomes in children remain unknown. Method: We measured activity patterns in 308 children (52% girls,…

The purpose of this study was to explore and reveal naïve conceptions and misconceptions about energy embedded in elementary school students' prior knowledge. Students' performance on standardized knowledge test was used to classify students into low, median and high levels of knowledge about the cardiovascular system. Semi-structured in-depth…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of an 8-week after-school intramural program that adopted a Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) approach to facilitate the development of elementary-school-aged children physical literacy. Methods: Using Physical and Health Education Canada's Passport for Life tool, 22…

Background: College wellness interventions have potential to reduce the growing burden of cardiovascular disease (CVD) by guiding students to establish behaviors for lifetime CVD risk reduction. Yet, some students may not see CVD prevention as a relevant issue during young adulthood. Purpose: We examined perceived risk of CVD amongst 148 college…

Physical activity and cardiorespiratory endurance have both been shown to associate with academic achievement; however, there is a paucity of work examining mediating effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cardiorespiratory endurance and mathematics performance using school day physical activity as a mediator.…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact on health-related fitness resulting from COVID-19 lockdowns on male high school students in Melbourne, Australia. Method: A total of 146 students completed fitness testing in February and retesting in November following 7 months of remote learning. Fitness tests conducted were 20-m…

Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service provided elementary school students with a program that included a noncompetitive physical activity component: circuit training that combined cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility activities without requiring high skill levels. The intent was to improve fitness without focusing on body mass index as an…

Introduction: Disparities in cardiovascular diseases are one of today's most important public health challenges. Pathological processes related to modifiable cardiovascular risk factors have shown to begin in childhood and disparities in these risk factors have been reported in adolescence. Food insecurity is significantly associated with…

Objectives: Using Theory of Planned Behavior, the objective of this study was to determine how attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavior control related to intent to strength training by college-aged women. Participants: Participants were college-aged females (N = 162) from a mid-sized private university in the Midwestern United States…