School physical education plays an important role in public health. Nonetheless, there are few evidence-based, health-related, physical education programs and very little is known about how to disseminate them for widespread use. This article (a) presents background information and a review of the completed research on the SPARK (Sports, Play, and…

The most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data (2003-2004) revealed that approximately 18% of children 6-to-19 years old are overweight. The Beacon Street Girls brand was specifically designed to entertain while providing healthy role models and positive messages. This article presents a study that tested whether an…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a short intervention program designed to enhance the educators' ability to identify children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Twenty early childhood and 20 physical education teachers (n = 40) participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned into an…

The authors sought to determine whether a greater academic incentive would improve the effectiveness and student adherence to a 12-week voluntary exercise program designed to decrease students' percentage of body fat. They randomly assigned 210 students to 1 of 2 groups with different academic reward structures. The group with the greater reward…

The need for successful nutrition interventions is critical as the prevalence of childhood obesity increases. Thus, this pilot project examines the effect of a nutrition education program, "Color My Pyramid", on children's nutrition knowledge, self-care practices, activity levels, and nutrition status. Using a pretest-posttest,…

The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) suggest at least 30 min of moderate physical activity at least 5 days a week or 20 min of vigorous physical activity at least 3 days a week. The overall aim of this experiment was to evaluate the efficacy of a web-based intervention--one that relied on…

This study examined change in binge eating symptoms reported by moderately overweight adolescents following participation in a behavioral weight control intervention. A total of 194 adolescents across two randomized controlled trials participated. Adolescents in both study samples endorsed a mild level of binge eating symptoms at baseline. Results…

This article describes the results of a study that helped determine common barriers to active commuting to and from school, as well as the results of a Walking School Bus program that was implemented at two neighborhood elementary schools in Nebraska. While parental perceived barriers to active commuting may influence the travel choices of…

The Kaiser Family Foundation released a report entitled "Kids and Media Use" in the United States that concluded that children's use of media--including television, computers, Internet, video games, and phones--may be one of the primary contributor's to the poor fitness and obesity of many of today's adolescents. The present study examines the…

The emphasis in public health on lifestyle physical activity in recent years has focused attention on the promotion of lifetime physical activity as the primary objective of physical education. If used properly, physical activity and physical fitness assessments can enhance individual promotion of physical activity and also provide valuable…

Background: Childhood obesity is an impending epidemic. This article is an overview of different interventions conducted in school settings so as to guide efforts for an effective management of obesity in children, thus minimizing the risk of adult obesity and related cardiovascular risk. Methods: PubMed and OVID Medline databases were searched…

This study evaluated the efficacy of a 9-month treadmill walking (TW) program on exercise capacity and body mass index (BMI) for adolescents with severe autism. Ten youth residing in a residential/school treatment facility were assigned to either a supplemental treadmill walking (TW) or control group. Both groups continued to participate in their…

Background: Despite the growing number of school-based interventions designed to reduce childhood obesity or otherwise promote health, no models or materials were found for Jewish schools. The current study describes an effort within a Jewish school system in Chicago to create, implement, and evaluate a school-based intervention tailored to the…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the existing evidence about the impact of sport/physical activity programmes on positive youth development in the context of education. The issue of youth disaffection is topical and a number of authors and policy makers have acknowledged that physical activity/sport may be an effective way of helping to…

Objective: The authors' purpose in this study was to compare the effects of macronutrient intake on systemic glucose levels in previously sedentary participants who followed 1 of 4 diets that were either higher protein or high carbohydrate, while initiating an exercise program. Participants and Methods: The authors randomly assigned 94 sedentary…