Parental assessment of physical education in the school curriculum: a brief report on the influence of past experiences as students

The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between parents' past experience as Physical Education (PE) students and the importance they give to PE within the school curriculum. Parents of 1834 teenagers from Spain and Portugal participated in the study (1834 fathers and 1834 mothers). An 11 item questionnaire was used for data collection. The measures studied were: socio-demographic characteristics, parent´s past experience as PE students, and importance that parents gave to PE in the school curriculum. The results suggest that parents’ past experiences as PE student condition their evaluation of the importance that PE should have in the school curriculum. As the past experience as PE student deteriorated and as age increased, there was an increase in the probability that parents evaluate PE as deserving a less important status in their children's curriculum. These findings can contribute to understanding how the parents' past experiences as PE students seem to partially model the value judgements that they make later in life regarding the importance of the subject

Physical literacy and teacher training: pilot study

With the appearance of physical literacy, a new approach to physical education has emerged, aimed at promoting lifelong physical activity. With the intention of exploring whether physical education teacher training programmes are in line with this trend, we analysed the conceptions of pre-service teachers. The aim of this study was to design and validate a questionnaire analysing the conceptions of students taking the degree course in the Science of Physical Activity and Sport with regard to what it means to be a physically well-educated student. A questionnaire was designed for data collection. A chi-square test was used to analyse the statistically significant differences and Cramer’s V was used to quantify the degree of association. The results show that pre-service teachers consider a physically well-educated student to be one who maintains a healthy lifestyle and has overall motor competence and self-awareness. Differences have been found between the conceptions of pre-service teachers, between universities and between the beginning and the end of training programs. A valid and reliable instrument has been obtained for analysing the conceptions of pre-service teachers. The studies reinforce the conceptions related to an active lifestyle and overall motor competence. The conceptions of pre-service teachers are within closer range of physical literacy after their studies

Gender influences on physical activity awareness of adolescents and their parents

The imbalances between the actual physical activity (PA) of adolescents and the subjective perception both they and their parents have in this regard can play an important role in perpetuating inactive lifestyles. The aim of this study is to analyse these discrepancies by considering gender as a conditioning factor. The participants in the study were 1697 adolescents, 1244 mothers and 1052 fathers in the educational communities of 26 secondary schools located in urban environments of the Autonomous Community of Galicia (Spain). With regard to actual physical activity, a high prevalence of sedentarism (82.1%) was revealed, this being even more acute in girls (87.8%). However, the perceived levels of activity differed significantly from the actual ones with a clear general overestimation both by the adolescents and their parents. When further exploring the data, gender influences were also detected both in adolescent and parental perceptions, since the high rates of overestimation in sedentary individuals were lower in girls and, on the contrary, the low rates of underestimation in active individuals were higher in girls. Moreover, although the level of agreement between actual and perceived physical activity was low overall, with Cohen’s kappa values ranging from 0.006 to 0.047, the lowest values were observed in the case of girls. In conclusion, both the adolescents and their parents were incapable of correctly assessing the actual physical activity of the former, so it seems that the general population lacks knowledge about the amount of physical activity that adolescents need to do to achieve a healthy lifestyle. Consequently, it would be advisable to implement health education campaigns and awareness-raising interventions directed to young people as well as to their parents and, in doing so, gender must be considered by establishing distinct program designs in terms of this variable

Physical activity intervention program through walking routes in sedentary university students

Objective: Effect of a physical activity program on body composition and physical condition with university teacher students. Methods: 51 university students from the Faculty of Education and Sport Sciences, University of Vigo (Spain), participated in the study. Students performed a 6-week protocol, using the walking routes designed in the university's own facilities. Two cohorts, experimental group and control group were analysed, before and after the program. The 6-minute walking test, countermovement jump (CMJ), flexibility through active straight leg raise, rate of perceived exhaustion (RPE) and heart rate (HR) were evaluated, and a bioimpedance measurement was used to evaluate the basal and final metabolism. Results: On the 6-minutes walking test, CMJ, and flexibility of the right leg significant differences were found between the experimental and the control group. There were no significant differences in either group for any RPE. In the bioimpedance, there were significant differences in fat and lean mass in the left leg. Conclusion: The analysed data indicates an improvement in aerobic endurance, jumping and flexibility capacities at the end of the program. But for body composition, in general there were no significant variations