The "Healthy Heart Race" activity provides a hands-on demonstration of cardiovascular function suitable for lay audiences. It was field tested during the United States of America Science and Engineering Festival held in Washington, DC, in October 2010. The basic equipment for the activity consisted of lengths of plastic tubing, a hand…

Aim: The present study aimed to determine whether youths with Down syndrome (DS) are able to increase lean mass and decrease fat mass, after 21 weeks of conditioning combined with a plyometric jumps training program. Methods: Twenty-six participants with DS (15 males) aged 10-19 years joined the study. Participants were divided into two comparable…

The purpose of this investigation was to compare student attitudes toward two different science laboratory learning experiences, specifically, traditional, cookbook-style, low-inquiry level (LL) activities and a high-inquiry level (HL) investigative project. In addition, we sought to measure and compare students' science-related attitudes and…

Administrators of older adult-centered facilities must identify barriers to the planning and implementation of health promotion programs. In this qualitative research those barriers were identified through in-depth interviews with administrators of older adult-centered facilities. As identified by administrators, the predominant barriers to the…

Objective: The authors examined differences in exercise motivation between age, sex, and race for college students. Participants: Students from 156 sections of physical activity classes at a midsize university were recruited (n = 2,199; 1,081 men, 1,118 women) in 2005-2006 and volunteered to complete the Exercise Motivation Inventory. Methods:…

Schools with very few and relatively low-performing marginalized students may be most likely to trigger social identity threats (including stereotype threats) that contribute to racial disparities. We test this hypothesis by assessing variation in the benefits of a self-affirmation intervention designed to counteract social identity threat in a…

Research has found that many characteristics are related to performance on standardized tests. Many of these are not necessarily "academic" attributes. One area of this research is on the connection between physical health or lifestyles and test performance. The research that exists in this area is often disconnected with each other and…

Background: Children with moderate persistent asthma are often reluctant to engage in physical activity and as a result are more prone to obesity and increased incidence of asthma attacks. Purpose: This study developed an asthma program that included physical activity and asthma management education for elementary school children with moderate…

Context: Rural breast cancer survivors may be at increased risk for inadequate exercise participation. Purpose: To determine for rural breast cancer survivors: (1) exercise preference "patterns," (2) exercise resources and associated factors, and (3) exercise environment. Methods: A mail survey was sent to rural breast cancer survivors identified…

Wheelchair basketball athletes are classified using the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) functional classification system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between upper extremity anaerobic performance (AnP) and all functional classification levels in wheelchair basketball. Ninety-seven male athletes…

Regardless of the sport or skill, it is essential to have correct biomechanical positioning, or postural control, in order to maximize energy transfer. Correct postural control requires a strong, stable core. A strong and stable core allows one to transfer energy effectively as well as reduce undue stress. An unstable or weak core, on the other…

When Saul Lerner became director of physical education, athletics, and health for the Bellmore-Merrick (New York) School District 14 years ago, football, soccer, basketball, and floor hockey were staples of most physical education classes on Long Island and around the rest of the country. The mindset of physical educators was to emphasize sports…

Our goal was to locate and evaluate the barriers that impact and cause females to avoid secondary elective physical education courses. We sought to find answers to stop the further decline of female enrolment in secondary physical education by looking into curricula, program and instructional variables. Anecdotal evidence informed this study which…

The first national youth fitness evaluation conducted in the United States was in 1958. Since that time, schools have continued to administer fitness evaluations using a variety of tests with no national-level assessment of youth fitness [Institute of Medicine (IOM), 2012]. However, in September 2012, the Presidential Youth Fitness Program (PYFP)…

Background: People with intellectual disability (ID) are more likely to have health problems than people without disability. Little previous research has investigated health from the perspective of the people with ID themselves. We aimed to focus on what people with ID understand being healthy to mean and what their experiences are of healthy…