Introducing physically active lessons in UK secondary schools: feasibility study and pilot cluster-randomised controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: Assess feasibility, acceptability and costs of delivering a physically active lessons (PAL) training programme to secondary school teachers and explore preliminary effectiveness for reducing pupils' sedentary time. DESIGN AND SETTING: Secondary schools in East England; one school participated in a pre-post feasibility study, two in a pilot cluster-randomised controlled trial. In the pilot trial, blinding to group assignment was not possible. PARTICIPANTS: Across studies, 321 randomly selected students (51% male; mean age: 12.9 years), 78 teachers (35% male) and 2 assistant head teachers enrolled; 296 (92%) students, 69 (88%) teachers and 2 assistant head teachers completed the studies. INTERVENTION: PAL training was delivered to teachers over two after-school sessions. Teachers were made aware of how to integrate movement into lessons; strategies included students collecting data from the environment for class activities and completing activities posted on classroom walls, instead of sitting at desks. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES: Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to assess feasibility and acceptability of PAL training and delivery. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and ~8 weeks post-training; measures included accelerometer-assessed activity, self-reported well-being and observations of time-on-task. Process evaluation was conducted at follow-up. RESULTS: In the feasibility study, teachers reported good acceptability of PAL training and mixed experiences of delivering PAL. In the pilot study, teachers' acceptability of training was lower and teachers identified aspects of the training in need of review, including the outdoor PAL training and learning challenge of PAL strategies. In both studies, students and assistant head teachers reported good acceptability of the intervention. Preliminary effectiveness for reducing students' sedentary time was not demonstrated in either study. CONCLUSIONS: No evidence of preliminary effectiveness on the primary outcome and mixed reports of teachers' acceptability of PAL training suggest the need to review the training. The results do not support continuation of research with the current intervention. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN38409550.The corresponding author has asked for the following sentence to be added to the acknowledgements: EvS is supported by the Medical Research Council [MC_UU_12015/7]

Defining Spoken Language Benchmarks and Selecting Measures of Expressive Language Development for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Purpose: The aims of this article are twofold: (a) to offer a set of recommended measures that can be used for evaluating the efficacy of interventions that target spoken language acquisition as part of treatment research studies or for use in applied settings and (b) to propose and define a common terminology for describing levels of spoken language ability in the expressive modality and to set benchmarks for determining a child\u27s language level in order to establish a framework for comparing outcomes across intervention studies.Method: The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders assembled a group of researchers with interests and experience in the study of language development and disorders in young children with autism spectrum disorders. The group worked for 18 months through a series of conference calls and correspondence, culminating in a meeting held in December 2007 to achieve consensus on these aims.Results: The authors recommend moving away from using the term functional speech, replacing it with a developmental framework. Rather, they recommend multiple sources of information to define language phases, including natural language samples, parent report, and standardized measures. They also provide guidelines and objective criteria for defining children\u27s spoken language expression in three major phases that correspond to developmental levels between 12 and 48 months of age

Assessment of Historic and Future Trends of Extreme Weather in Texas, 1900-2036

This report analyzes historic and future trends in temperature, extreme temperature, rainfall, extreme rainfall, drought, river flooding, urban flooding, sea level rise, and severe weather.Texas 203

The mediating role of physical self-concept on relations between biological maturity status and physical activity in adolescent females

The current study examined the mediating role of physical self-concept on relations between biological maturity status and self-reported physical activity in adolescent British females. Biological maturity status, physical self-concept and physical activity were assessed in 407 female British year 7-9 pupils (M age = 13.2 years, SD = 1.0). Participants completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Adolescents (Kowalski, Crocker, & Donen, 2004) and the Children and Youth Physical Self-Perceptions Profile (Whitehead, 1995). Percentage of predicted adult height attained at measurement was used as an estimate of biological maturity status. Structural equation modelling using maximum likelihood estimation and bootstrapping procedures revealed that perceptions of sports competence, body attractiveness and physical self-worth mediated an inverse relation between maturity status and physical activity. The results provide partial support for Petersen and Taylor's (1980) Mediated Effects Model of Psychological and Behavioural Adaptation to Puberty within the context of physical activity

Defining Spoken Language Benchmarks and Selecting Measures of Expressive Language Development for Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Purpose The aims of this article are twofold: (a) to offer a set of recommended measures that can be used for evaluating the efficacy of interventions that target spoken language acquisition as part of treatment research studies or for use in applied settings and (b) to propose and define a common terminology for describing levels of spoken language ability in the expressive modality and to set benchmarks for determining a child’s language level in order to establish a framework for comparing outcomes across intervention studies. Method The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders assembled a group of researchers with interests and experience in the study of language development and disorders in young children with autism spectrum disorders. The group worked for 18 months through a series of conference calls and correspondence, culminating in a meeting held in December 2007 to achieve consensus on these aims. Results The authors recommend moving away from using the term functional speech, replacing it with a developmental framework. Rather, they recommend multiple sources of information to define language phases, including natural language samples, parent report, and standardized measures. They also provide guidelines and objective criteria for defining children’s spoken language expression in three major phases that correspond to developmental levels between 12 and 48 months of age

Military service, deployments, and exposures in relation to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis etiology

Factors underlying a possible excess of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) among military veterans remain unidentified. Limitations of previous studies on this topic include reliance on ALS mortality as a surrogate for ALS incidence, low statistical power, and sparse information on military-related factors

Military service, deployments, and exposures in relation to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis survival

Military veterans may have higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) mortality than non-veterans. Few studies, with sparse exposure information and mixed results, have studied relationships between military-related factors and ALS survival. We evaluated associations between military-related factors and ALS survival among U.S. military veteran cases

Influence of Guideline Operationalization on Youth Activity Prevalence in the International Children's Accelerometry Database

Introduction The United Kingdom and World Health Organization recently changed their youth physical activity (PA) guidelines from 60 min of moderate- to vigorous-intensity PA (MVPA) every day, to an average of 60 min of MVPA per day, over a week. The changes are based on expert opinion due to insufficient evidence comparing health outcomes associated with different guideline definitions. This study used the International Children’s Accelerometry Database to compare approaches to calculating youth PA compliance and associations with health indicators. Methods Cross-sectional accelerometer data (n = 21,612, 5–18 yr) were used to examine compliance with four guideline definitions: daily method (DM; ≥60 min MVPA every day), average method (AM; average of ≥60 min MVPA per day), AM5 (AM compliance and ≥5 min of vigorous PA [VPA] on ≥3 d), and AM15 (AM compliance and ≥15 min VPA on ≥3 d). Associations between compliance and health indicators were examined for all definitions. Results Compliance varied from 5.3% (DM) to 29.9% (AM). Associations between compliance and health indicators were similar for AM, AM5, and AM15. For example, compliance with AM, AM5, and AM15 was associated with a lower BMI z-score (statistics are coefficient [95% CI]): AM (−0.28 [−0.33 to −0.23]), AM5 (−0.28 [−0.33 to −0.23], and AM15 (−0.30 [−0.35 to −0.25]). Associations between compliance and health indicators for DM were similar/weaker, possibly reflecting fewer DM-compliant participants with health data and lower variability in exposure/outcome data. Conclusions Youth completing 60 min of MVPA every day do not experience superior health benefits to youth completing an average of 60 min of MVPA per day. Guidelines should encourage youth to achieve an average of 60 min of MVPA per day. Different guideline definitions affect inactivity prevalence estimates; this must be considered when analyzing data and comparing studies.publishedVersionPaid open acces

Implementing physically active learning: Future directions for research, policy, and practice

Objective Identify co-produced multi-stakeholder perspectives important for successful widespread physically active learning (PAL) adoption and implementation. Method A total of 35 stakeholders (policy makers, n = 9; commercial education sector, n = 8; teachers, n = 3; researchers, n = 15) attended a design thinking PAL workshop. Participants formed 5 multi-disciplinary groups with at least 1 representative from each stakeholder group. Each group, facilitated by a researcher, undertook 2 tasks: (1) using Post-it Notes, the following question was answered: within the school day, what are the opportunities for learning combined with movement? and (2) structured as a washing-line task, the following question was answered: how can we establish PAL as the norm? All discussions were audio-recorded and transcribed. Inductive analyses were conducted by 4 authors. After the analyses were complete, the main themes and subthemes were assigned to 4 predetermined categories: (1) PAL design and implementation, (2) priorities for practice, (3) priorities for policy, and (4) priorities for research. Results The following were the main themes for PAL implementation: opportunities for PAL within the school day, delivery environments, learning approaches, and the intensity of PAL. The main themes for the priorities for practice included teacher confidence and competence, resources to support delivery, and community of practice. The main themes for the policy for priorities included self-governance, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skill, policy investment in initial teacher training, and curriculum reform. The main themes for the research priorities included establishing a strong evidence base, school-based PAL implementation, and a whole-systems approach. Conclusion The present study is the first to identify PAL implementation factors using a combined multi-stakeholder perspective. To achieve wider PAL adoption and implementation, future interventions should be evidence based and address implementation factors at the classroom level (e.g., approaches and delivery environments), school level (e.g., communities of practice), and policy level (e.g., initial teacher training)