Relationship between physical activity, screen time and weight status among young adolescents

It is well established that lack of physical activity and high bouts of sedentary behaviour are now associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between physical activity participation, overall screen time and weight status amongst early Irish adolescent youth. Participants were a sample of 169 students: 113 boys (mean age = 12.89 ± 0.34 years) and 56 girls (mean age = 12.87 ± 0.61 years). The data gathered in the present study included physical activity (accelerometry), screen time (self-report) and anthropometric measurements. Overweight and obese participants accumulated significantly more minutes of overall screen time daily compared to their normal-weight counterparts. A correlation between physical activity and daily television viewing was evident among girls. No significant interaction was apparent when examining daily physical activity and overall screen time in the prediction of early adolescents’ body mass index. Results suggest the importance of reducing screen time in the contribution towards a healthier weight status among adolescents. Furthermore, physical activity appears largely unrelated to overall screen time in predicting adolescent weight status, suggesting that these variables may be independent markers of health in youth. The existing relationship for girls between moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and time spent television viewing may be a potential area to consider for future intervention design with adolescent youth

Promoting physical literacy in Irish adolescent youth: the Youth-Physical Activity Towards Health (Y-PATH) intervention

In their most contemporary model, strategic plan and call to action, the Aspen Institute have encouraged a cross-sector embrace towards the concept of â physical literacyâ , specifically defined as the â ability, confidence, and desire to be physically active for life.â This proposed physical literacy definition is a welcome addition to policy and practice for health, considering the unprecedented prevalence in recent years of topical areas such as physical inactivity, movement inefficiency and unhealthy weight gain during childhood. Aligned with the United States primary objective of creating conditions for all youth to be physically literate by the middle schools years, the inception of the Youth-Physical Activity Towards Health (Y-PATH) programme in Ireland is of particular consideration. The Y-PATH school-based physical education (PE) intervention for adolescent youth was developed in 2011, as guided by the contextual Irish need for physical activity (PA) promotion and the subsequent wealth of literature surrounding this thematic field. In this evidence-based study, the reader will be introduced to the guiding principles of the intervention, specifically the educational focus of promoting physical literacy for adolescent youth. The Y-PATH intervention consists of a multi-component whole-school approach to PA promotion in second level education. In terms of originality, the PE component of the intervention addresses psychosocial, health related activity (HRA) and fundamental movement skills (FMS) as particular strategies for increasing adolescent PA participation. All of the intervention components are grounded within a cost-efficient and feasible approach to overall physical literacy promotion

Evidence for the efficacy of the Youth-Physical Activity Towards Health (Y-PATH) intervention

The physical education environment is a key opportunity to intervene because of access to children and adolescents for the purpose of increasing physical activity participation and improving fundamental movement skill proficiency. A non-randomised controlled trial involving two schools in a rural Irish town was carried out in September 2011 to evaluate the Youth-Physical Activity Towards Health (Y-PATH) intervention. Data were collected on 12 to 14 year olds (n = 174) at 3 time points (pre, post and retention). Data collected included measured height and weight, physical activity measured by accelerometry and by self-report and fundamental movement skill performance. Both the control and intervention school showed significant increases in daily physical activity and gross motor skill proficiency over time. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant interaction effect between school attended and time for physical activity (F (2, 38) = 6.177, p = .005) and fundamental movement skills (F (2, 100) = 4.132, p = .019), with a significantly greater increase in physical activity and fundamental movement skills observed in the intervention school. Preliminary findings from this study suggest a positive effect for the Y-PATH intervention and provide support for its potential in increasing physical activity and fundamental movement skill levels of adolescent youth. Further research involving a definitive randomised controlled trial with a larger sample size is warranted

Balance as a predictor towards independent cycling

Cycling is a milestone for children. Learning to ride a bike is an acquired skill, often obtained with difficulty. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) are generally developed in early childhood. Children have the developmental potential to progress to the mature stage of most FMS by the age of 6, at which point they are able to combine FMS to produce specialised skills in sports and recreational activities like cycling. Balance, a subset of FMS, has often thought to be essential in cycling; however, there is no empirical evidence to support this statement. Thus, this study investigates if balance is a contributing factor to learning to cycle. 72 children (3.7+/-0.5) were assessed pre and post a 5 week intervention. The children were assessed on ability to cycle independently and balance ability. Ability to cycle independently was measured using a traditional bike. If the child was able to cycle without assistance (tester holding onto bike) they were given a score of 1 and if they could not a score of 0. No children were able to cycle independently at pre-intervention. Balance ability was measured using the balance subset of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, second edition (MABC-2). All children attended 10 cycling lessons over 5 weeks. Linear regressions were run to assess whether the balance at pre-intervention predicted if a child would be able the cycle independently post-intervention. Balance ability did not predict cycling independently (r^2=.002, p>.05). The current results would suggest that the FMS skill of balance is not a contributing factor to learning to cycle. This result, while in contrast to the general assumption, is not surprising as most children do not reach the mastery level of FMS till the age of 6. Therefore, between 3 and 5 years, when children generally learn to cycle, they are not yet at the phase of refining FMS to produce sport specific skills. Further research should investigate (i) if other FMS subsets or a combination of FMS contribute to learning to cycle and (ii) if cycling is an independent skill learnt at parallel to FMS

It\u27s Not What You Do Its the Way That You Do It: the Influence of Obesity on the Speed and Accuracy of a Discrete Aiming Task

The ability to control speed and accuracy of goal directed aiming tasks underpins many activities of daily living. Recent evidence has begun to suggest that obesity can affect the control of movement. This study evaluated perceptual motor control of 183 normal weight, overweight, and obese participants using a discrete Fitts’ task on a digital tablet. In addition, we manipulated tablet orientation to determine whether tablet orientation influences task difficulty with the view to increase the task’s constraints. Our study found that the traditional relationship between target distance and target width hold true for each of the three weight groups in both tablet orientations. Interestingly, no significant differences were found for movement time between the groups, while movement kinematics differed between weight groups. Obese participants demonstrated significantly higher peak acceleration values in the horizontal tablet orientation when compared to their normal weight and overweight counterparts. Further to this, obese participants made significantly more errors than normal weight and overweight groups. These findings suggest that obese individuals have altered control strategies compared to their normal weight peers. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature

Moving well-being well: evidence and background to the development of the MWBW physical literacy intervention for children

Operationalising physical literacy and generating meaningful, measurable empirical research will determine what physical literacy is and how it works. Recent research suggests that Irish adolescents are not displaying the attributes of physical literacy that would see them adopt and understand to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life (Belton et al, 2014). The purpose of this study was to develop from previous work by assessing the current level of physical literacy in Irish primary school children (5-13 years), with an intervention established following data collection and analysis. Cross-sectional data on Whiteheadian physical literacy constructs (Whitehead, 2010), physical activity levels (using self and proxy reports, and accelerometers), anthropometric characteristics, perception of body figure, well-being, and fundamental movement skill proficiency of 2098 children (53% male, 9.17 ± 2.04 years) were collected. Findings indicate that the majority of children (77.5%) did not achieve the fundamental movement skill proficiency expected for their age. Children above population average on self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation scales scored significantly higher on (p < 0.01) the gross motor quotient (GMQ; Ulrich, 2000) than those who fell below the population average. Regardless of their GMQ, children had a poor knowledge and understanding of why it is important to value and take responsibility for engagement in physical activities for life. In contrast to previous studies the intervention will not predominantly target low levels of physical activity as a primary outcome but will focus on affecting the constructs of physical literacy. Empirical research is one method of gaining a greater understanding of the concept of physical literacy and examining it helps to identify how a concept can be operationalised. Thus, when this intervention created the research team wanted an empirically supported intervention, yet a subtlety in maintaining the philosophical assumptions of physical literacy. Therefore, the majority of the intervention will follow a structure related with Epstein’s (1989) and Ames’ (1992) TARGET structures, with particular focus on the teachers’ efficacy

Exploring components of physical literacy in Irish children

Aim: To investigate the relationship between Self-Determination Theory’s motivational regulations and fundament movement skills (FMS) in primary school children. Quality of physical activity (PA) motivation has been found to be an important correlate and a potential determinant of PA. However, there are few that have investigated the quality of PA motivation’s relationship with determinants and correlates of PA, such as fundamental movement skills (FMS). There is an increasing recognition of the relationship between FMS and PA in childhood, with studies beginning to show a causal relationship. Thus, this study investigates the relationship between children’s quality of PA motivation and their FMS proficiency. The motivation and FMS of 865 children (47.7% female, 10.9 ± 1.16 years) was collected. The TGMD-3 (Ulrich, 2017) was implemented to evaluate FMS. Meanwhile, quality of motivation was measured using the BREQ which was adapted for children (Sebire et al., 2013). A hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to assess the capacity of four measures (intrinsic motivation, identified, introjected and external regulations) on FMS proficiency, with separate male and female analysis. The four measures explained 8.9% of the variance in FMS for males (R2 = .089, p < .001) and 5.5% for females (R2 = .055, p < .001). For males, three measures were statistically significant (p < .05): identified (β = .21), external (β = -.14), and introjected (β = .13) regulation. Meanwhile, for females only external regulation (β = -.21) made a significant contribution to FMS. The results of the current research are congruent with previous SDT research, demonstrating how motivation quality influences FMS proficiency. It is no surprise that FMS proficiency and intrinsic motivation do not have a significant relationship; perhaps developing FMS proficiency requires individuals to place value on the skills and to recognise the importance of FMS in terms of facilitating their participation and success in PA. This study provides evidence for the need to promote autonomous motivation and prevent controlling motivation when designing, testing and implementing FMS interventions

Getting Ireland’s Children Moving: Examining fundamental movement skills in Irish school children as a key component for physical literacy.

Recent reports from the World Health Organisation predict Ireland to be ‘the most obese nation in Europe by 2030”. In addition to this stark warning, recent research findings suggest that the country’s adolescents are falling short of physical literacy. With physical literacy being recognised as a key driver in lifelong physical activity participation, phase one of the Moving Well-Being Well study has assessed primary school children (5-13 years) in all aspects of the currently accepted physical literacy model. Areas of assessment included; fundamental movement skills (FMS) proficiency, perceived motor skill competence, motivation and confidence measures, health related fitness measures, body image, wellbeing and physical activity participation. FMS proficiency has been associated with beneficial health outcomes, and is most successfully developed during early school years, and as such is a central component of this study. Data was collected nationwide (n=2098, male 53%), and findings show that 77.5% of children scored between ‘very poor’ and ‘below average’ in FMS proficiency. There was no difference between children attending urban and rural schools, but notably, when socioeconomic status is taken into account, the schools in middle and upper-class neighbourhoods scored significantly higher (p<0.001) than those in the so called disadvantaged areas. The results also show significantly higher (p<0.001) FMS proficiency for children who achieve high levels of moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA), over those who are less active. Findings suggest that Irish primary school children fail to exhibit age-appropriate FMS proficiency. This low level of motor skills proficiency can have direct negative implications for future participation in physical activity. These findings are being used to create the structure of the Moving Well-Being Well intervention aiming at addressing these deficiencies

Moving well, being well: an intervention aimed at increasing fundamental movement skills in Irish primary school children, while also increasing teacher confidence in delivering physical activity based lessons.

Physical Activity (PA) has long been positively linked with health benefits. Recent research shows that 67% of adolescents are not getting the recommended one hour of moderate to vigorous activity (MVPA) per day. In addition, 99.5% of the same sample did not achieve the level of Fundamental Movement Skill (FMS) proficiency expected of their age. In young children FMS proficiency is hypothesised to correlate with increased PA in later life, and these skills are best developed throughout the early school going years. To address these alarming statistics, phase one of the Moving Well-Being Well project has assessed a nationwide sample (n=2148) of primary school children (5-13 years) in Ireland. The range of assessments covered all aspects of the currently accepted physical literacy model: competence, motivation, confidence, and knowledge and understanding. The results show that 77.5% of primary school children were classed as ‘very poor’ or ‘below average’ in FMS proficiency (n=2098, Male 53%). The findings also show significantly higher (p<0.001) FMS proficiency for children who achieve high levels of MVPA, over those who are less active. Confidence and motivation both saw significant increases (p<0.05) for those categorised as highly active, compared to those in the low activity group. There was significant difference between these groups for knowledge and understanding, and 54.8% did not know the minimum recommended MVPA guidelines. These findings have been used to develop the intervention aiming at addressing these deficiencies. The intervention targets increasing teacher confidence in delivering FMS programmes through an innovative school’s in-service training program