Policies and Opportunities for Physical Activity in Middle School Environments

This study examined physical activity opportunities and barriers at 36 geographically diverse middle schools participating in the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls

Physical Activity Attitudes, Preferences, and Practices in African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian Girls

Physical activity levels in girls decline dramatically during adolescence, most profoundlyamong minorities. To explore ethnic and racial variation in attitudes toward physical activity, semistructured interviews (n = 80) and physical activity checklists (n = 130) are conducted with African American, Hispanic, and Caucasian middle school girls in six locations across the United States. Girls from all groups have similar perceptions of the benefits of physical activity, with staying in shape as the most important. Girls have similar negative perceptions of physical activity, including getting hurt, sweating, aggressive players, and embarrassment. Chores, runningor jogging, exercises, and dance are common activities for girls regardless of ethnicity. Basketball, swimming, running, and dance are commonly cited favorite activities, although there are slight differences between ethnic groups. The results suggest that factors other than ethnicity contribute to girls’physical activity preferences and that distinct interventions may not be needed for each ethnic group

Girls' Activity Levels and Lesson Contexts in Middle School PE: TAAG Baseline

To assess girls' physical activity (PA) in middle school physical education (PE) as it relates to field site, lesson context and location, teacher gender, and class composition

Formative Research in School and Community-Based Health Programs and Studies: “State of the Art” and the TAAG Approach

Formative research uses qualitative and quantitative methods to provide information for researchers to plan intervention programs. Gaps in the formative research literature include how to define goals, implementation plans, and research questions; select methods; analyze data; and develop interventions. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute funded the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG), a randomized, multicenter field trial, to reduce the decline in physical activity in adolescent girls. The goals of the TAAG formative research are to (a) describe study communities and schools, (b) help design the trial’s interventions, (c) develop effective recruitment and retention strategies, and (d) design evaluation instruments. To meet these goals, a variety of methods, including telephone interviews, surveys and checklists, semistructured interviews, and focus group discussions, are employed. The purpose, method of development, and analyses are explained for each method

Recruiting a Diverse Group of Middle School Girls Into the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls

School-based study recruitment efforts are both time consuming and challenging. This paper highlights the recruitment strategies employed by the national, multisite Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG), a study designed to measure the effectiveness of an intervention to reduce the decline of physical activity levels among middle school—aged girls. TAAG provided a unique opportunity to recruit large cohorts of randomly sampled girls within 36 diverse middle schools across the United States