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Background: Evidence suggests that adolescent males' physical activity levels are declining more rapidly than females. Adolescent males' motivation to be physically active needs to be better understood to ensure they stay active into adulthood. Purpose: The aim of the systematic review was to synthesize qualitative research framed by Self Determination Theory to examine adolescent males' motivation to be active. Methods: Databases were searched using key terms to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. Results: Adolescent males' experienced physical activity in line with intrinsic and extrinsic regulations and felt amotivated to be active if they found physical activity boring, felt vulnerable in physical activity spaces, or experienced peer teasing. Peer relatedness was key to their motivation to be active, associated with both amotivation via peer comparison, and positively with increased intrinsic motivation to be active with friends and those of a similar ability. Discussion: Increased autonomy in adolescence means leisure-time physical activity with friends, away from school and parents, is critical if adolescent males are to remain active into adulthood. Translation to Health Education Practice: Adolescent males' physical activity needs to be inclusive to a multifaceted definition of masculinity, ensuring all adolescent males' basic psychological needs are met.

Body image has implications for child and adolescent well-being. Schools have been positioned as a suitable site to provide body image education and support the development of body image; however, little is known about the role of physical education in body image education. The aim of this study was to systematically review the evidence on the content and effectiveness of physical education-based body image or body-focused programmes published between 2000 and 2021. Using seven databases (Web of Science, SCOPUS, EBSCO, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Science Direct, and SportDiscus), a total of 1185 non-duplicated articles were retrieved. The articles were selected using the following inclusion criteria: (a) intervention, programme or curriculum based in physical education that explores body image or related phenomena, (b) focused on children or young people, aged 18 years or younger, (c) conducted between 2000 and 2021, (d) quantitative and/or qualitative methods: and (e) published in English. Following the screening process, a total of 19 articles were included in this review. Results showed that most programmes reported successful outcomes, yet there was no consistent approach to the programme design and delivery. Physical activity and fitness-based programmes were the most frequently used intervention type, followed by critical sociocultural perspectives and programmes focused on movement experiences and body functionality. Whilst fitness-based programmes were generally effective in improving body image and related phenomena, future research should explore the mechanisms associated with these changes and further consider how sociocultural perspectives can be used to support body image programmes.

Background: Adolescent girls are likely to be less active than adolescent boys. A range of factors including multiple psychosocial aspects are thought to influence their engagement in physical activity (PA). This study aimed to explore adolescent girls' perceptions and experiences of school-based PA to inform a subsequent intervention, the Girls Peer Activity (G-PACT) project. Methods: The Youth Activity Profile was used to assess adolescent girls' current PA levels. Open-ended questions were used to investigate girls' perceptions and experiences of school-based PA. Focus groups stratified by PA level were then conducted to explore their perceptions and experiences in depth. The focus group data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis. Results: The master themes emanating from the focus groups were noncompetitive activities and after-school sport culture for lower active girls. Higher active girls' master themes were PA perceptions and physical education. Regardless of activity level, participants reported greater enjoyment from PA when participating with friends and having choice over activities provided within the school setting. Conclusions: The findings highlight the importance of choice, peer groupings, noncompetitive opportunities, and PA competence to adolescent girls' school-based PA behaviors. The school environment can support and restrict girls' engagement in PA. The findings will be applied to the design, content, and implementation of the G-PACT project.

Objective: This study explored whether pupils' state body satisfaction during physical education related to the degree to which they indicated that physical education stimulated them to engage in sports activities outside of school. It also investigated whether pupils' self-determined motivation mediated this relationship, such that pupils with higher body satisfaction were more likely to value and enjoy the lessons, and to indicate they would re-engage in the activities outside of physical education. Methods: The study involved 506 13-14-year-old pupils (51.19% girls) in England, who completed validated questionnaires to measure perceived body satisfaction, motivation for physical education and the perceived sport promoting role of physical education. Results: Results showed that body satisfaction positively related to the perceived sport promoting role of physical education in girls. The relationship between state body satisfaction during physical education and the perceived sport promoting role of physical education was partially mediated by pupils' self-determined motivation. Conclusion: Pupils who felt more comfortable and satisfied with their physical appearance seemed to value and enjoy physical lessons more, and this more positive experience stimulated them to re-engage in the activities outside school.

An international evidence-base demonstrates that healthy lifestyle digital technologies, like exergames, health-related mobile applications ('apps') and wearable health devices are being used more and more within educational settings. Despite this, there is a lack of in-depth empirical evidence on young people's experiences and uses of healthy lifestyle technologies. In this article we focus on young people's uses of a wearable health device -- Fitbit -- and the associated health app. Informed by the work of Foucault, the purpose is to investigate the surveillance, self-surveillance and resistance that occur by young people. One hundred 13-14 years olds (53 females, 47 males), from five physical education classes in two UK schools participated. Data were generated through 8 focus group interviews, and the nominal interview group technique was applied. Data were analyzed using key concepts from Foucault's theoretical framework. The results demonstrated that, the daily 10,000 step and calorie burning targets set by the Fitbit device encouraged the young people to do more physical activity. Increases in physical activity occurred because of the self-surveillant practices promoted by the Fitbit through; (i) the monitoring and recording of steps and calories burned, and (ii) peer comparison (or monitoring). Surveillance and self-surveillance practices, however, were clearly connected to health equating to fitness and being 'fit' or not being 'fat'. These narrow interpretations of health, equally, underpinned resistance. Daily step and calorie burning targets, (i) did not sustain young people's engagement with the device beyond a few weeks, (ii) promoted negative feelings, and (iii) the device was resisted because it did not record physical activity accurately as part of young people's daily lives. In turn, the young people resisted the educational value of the Fitbit and demonstrated a sceptical stance toward introducing health devices in school and physical education settings.

Background: Significant proportions of young people experience body dissatisfaction, which has implications for psychological and physical well-being. Lesson content and perceived competence may be important variables for the experience of body dissatisfaction, yet these have been underexplored in physical education. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to identify the relationships between body dissatisfaction and perceptions of competence, and to explore whether body dissatisfaction depends on lesson content. Methods: A paper-and-pencil questionnaire was completed by 446 (210 boys, 236 girls) 13- to 14-year-old pupils from 37 physical education classes. The questionnaire assessed body dissatisfaction and perceived competence in physical education. Lesson content was also recorded. Twenty-nine of the classes were engaged in team activities, e.g., ball games. Eight classes were engaged in individual activities, eg, fitness. Results: Multilevel analysis identified a significant negative association between body dissatisfaction and perceptions of competence in physical education. Lesson content did not significantly predict variations in body dissatisfaction scores. Conclusions: Teachers should focus on enhancing pupils' perceptions of competence in physical education to support the development of body satisfaction.

Body image disturbance in children and adolescents has negative implications for psychological and physical well-being. To positively impact well-being, it is important to explore factors that influence body image and to identify strategies that can be used to reduce body image disturbance. The school curriculum can play a significant role in shaping how children and adolescents experience their bodies. Within this school curriculum, physical education lessons represent one of the only school subjects in which the body is a focus of curricular outcomes. In physical education, the body is judged for physical ability but is also situated in a space that provides the potential for social comparisons and body judgements. Significant attention has been paid to the development of classroom-based interventions that aim at reducing body image disturbance, yet physical education has largely been ignored as a context in which one can effectively intervene. This paper reviews current knowledge on the relationship between physical education and body image disturbance by using the cognitive-behavioural model of body image developments as a guiding framework. It also considers the contribution that physical education could make to wider school-based interventions.

Background: Considerable numbers of young people are not meeting physical activity guidelines. Wearable fitness devices can provide opportunities for physical activity promotion. Purpose: The aim of the study was to explore whether wearable healthy lifestyle technologies impacted on adolescents' (13- to 14-year-olds) motivation for physical activity. Methods: The study was a mixed method sequential design. Participants were 84 adolescents (44 girls, 40 boys) from 6 physical education classes. Pupils were issued with a Fitbit to wear for 8 weeks and completed pre-/posttest questionnaires that assessed motivational regulation and psychological need satisfaction. Adolescents also engaged in focus group interviews after wearing the Fitbit for 8 weeks. Quantitative data were analyzed using a repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to explore differences between gender and time. Qualitative data analysis was conducted deductively using self-determination theory. Results: The quantitative findings identified significant reductions in need satisfaction and autonomous motivation and significant increases in amotivation after 8 weeks. Qualitative evidence suggested short-term increases in motivation through feelings of competition, guilt, and internal pressure. Discussion: Findings suggest that healthy lifestyle technology may have negative motivational consequences. Translation to Health Education Practice: Certified Health Education Specialists should support young people to personalize health targets in order to critically engage with normalized health targets.

While student parents now represent a significant proportion of the higher education population in England, this group has been given limited consideration in policy circles. Using a social constructivist and feminist theoretical framework, this paper draws on a research project investigating the role of higher education policies in supporting student parents in England. It focuses on findings from 40 interviews conducted with student parents enrolled on university programmes. It shows that, in the context of the default construction of the university student as carefree, student parents often describe their experience of navigating academia as a struggle, in which time-related, financial, health and emotional problems prevail. However, the stories they tell also emphasise the benefits associated with their dual status. By doing so, they resist the discourse of deficit typically applied to "non traditional" students and produce a counter-discourse that disturbs the long-lived binary opposition between care and academia.

Significant proportions of adolescents do not meet recommended physical activity levels. Finding new ways to motivate adolescents to be active is important for physical and psychological well-being. Health and fitness wearables such as the Fitbit have the potential to motivate young people to be active. The aim of this study is to explore if wearing a Fitbit for 5 weeks impacted adolescents' (14–15 year olds) body satisfaction, physical activity motivation and objective physical activity. The study was conducted with 62 (38 boys, 24 girls) pupils aged 14–15, from five high school physical education classes, in one high school in the United Kingdom. Pupils wore a Fitbit Charge HR for 5 weeks. Pupils wore an accelerometer for 7 days pre and post the 5-week period to explore changes in physical activity levels. Pupils also completed pre-post-test questionnaires to measure body satisfaction and physical activity motivation. Data were analysed using a repeated measures Multivariate Analysis of Variance to explore differences in scores between time and sex. After wearing the Fitbit, the pupils experienced declines in autonomous motivation and increases in both amotivation and controlled motivation, but these differences were not significant. In line with these negative motivational outcomes, pupils engaged in significantly less moderate to vigorous physical activity after wearing the Fitbit. Significant increases in body satisfaction were also experienced by pupils after wearing the Fitbit. These findings suggest that without support Fitbits may make pupils less motivated to be active and decrease the physical activity levels of adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enjoyment of physical activity (PA) is positively correlated with PA engagement. The inclusion of peers has been found to increase the likelihood of PA enjoyment in youth. Peer-led strategies, incorporating peer networks in the intervention delivery, is relatively underused and consequently understudied in school-based PA interventions. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the novel Girls Peer Activity (G-PACT) peer-led mentoring intervention. Two-hundred and forty-nine Year 9 adolescent girls (13⁻14 years old) from three mixed-sex secondary schools located in West Lancashire, North-West England were invited to participate in the G-PACT project. The study employed a novel approach by using a three-tier model, including (Tier 1) Mentors (undergraduate students), (Tier 2) Leaders (Year 9 girls selected by teachers), and (Tier 3) Peers (whole Year 9 cohort). Mentors delivered a series of educational and leadership training to the Leaders in each respective school who then disseminated this information to their Peers and encouraged them to engage in more physical activities. Eight focus groups were conducted with Leaders (n = 40), 28 focus groups with Peers (n = 185), two focus groups with Mentors (n = 6), and three interviews with teachers (n = 4). Thematic analysis was used to analyze the pooled data and identify the key themes. The study found that the G-PACT intervention was feasible and acceptable for adolescent PA Leaders and their Mentors. The relationship between Leaders and their Peers required refinement to improve the communication processes to increase Peer engagement in the G-PACT project.

Regular physical activity (PA) is associated with numerous physical and psychological health benefits. Adolescents, specifically girls, are at risk of physical inactivity. To date, there is limited research on PA interventions involving peers, which could encourage more adolescent girls to engage in PA. The investigation aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel school three-tier peer-led mentoring model designed to improve PA levels and reduce sedentary time (ST) of adolescent girls. Two-hundred and forty-nine Year 9 adolescent girls (13⁻15 years old) from three UK secondary schools were invited to participate in a peer-led mentoring intervention (Girls Peer Activity (G-PACT) project). The peer-led mentoring model was delivered in all three schools. Two of the schools received an additional after-school PA component. PA and ST were assessed through wrist-worn accelerometry. Girls who received an exercise class after-school component significantly increased their whole day moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) (3.2 min, p = 0.009, d = 0.33). Girls who received no after-school component significantly decreased their MVPA (3.5 min, p = 0.016, d = 0.36) and increased their ST (17.2 min, p = 0.006, d = 0.43). The G-PACT intervention demonstrated feasibility of recruitment and data collection procedures for adolescent girls. The peer-led mentoring model shows promise for impacting girls' MVPA levels when combined with an after-school club PA opportunity.