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Study aim: the purpose of the present study was to investigate the potential of traditional games as a method of increasing the physical activity (PA) of women following mastectomy. A cross-sectional survey during the 20th ONCO Games was conducted and the sample included data from women divided into two groups: up to 50 years old (n = 26) and over 50 years old (n = 86).

Study aim: the aim of this study was to assess the step counts of children and adolescents with different BMIs and to present the results in relation to the step count recommendation.

Intentional nuclear forensics is a concept wherein the deliberate addition of benign and persistent material signatures to nuclear material can be used to reduce the time between the discovery of material outside of regulatory control and determination of its original provenance. One concept within intentional nuclear forensics involves the use of perturbed stable isotopes to generate unique isotope ratio "barcodes" to encode information (e.g., production batch, location, etc.) and track material throughout the nuclear fuel cycle. Synthesis of taggant species of nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), and tungsten (W) was undertaken via a double-spike mechanism, wherein two highly enriched isotopes of interest per elemental taggant were mixed to form an enriched "double-spike" which was subsequently isotopically diluted with bulk material having a natural isotopic composition. Two taggant species perturbing isotopic ratios, alpha (α) and beta (β), for each of Ni, Mo, and W were synthesized. Independent measurements of double spikes and alpha and beta taggant species agreed within uncertainty and are clearly resolvable from natural compositions. High-precision analyses were independently performed by MC-ICP-MS at two U.S. National Laboratories, with consensus values and uncertainties calculated for all samples. Observed isotopic perturbations in the final taggant species measured on the order of hundreds to thousands of permille (‰) with respect to natural for isotope ratios of interest (e.g., 60 Ni/ 58 Ni, 100 Mo/ 98 Mo, 186  W/ 183 W). Discrepancies between modeled and measured isotopic compositions were observed and are largely attributed to imprecise vendor assay values for starting materials. Using measured starting material compositions as inputs for the mixing model improved the level of agreement between predicted and measured α and β taggant isotope ratios. Overall, characterization of all taggant species demonstrates that this "barcode" concept could have viability for use in nuclear forensics. It is expected that for any two-isotope mixing array dozens of isotopic barcodes could be encoded into a material system and subsequently resolved utilizing modern mass spectrometric methods., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: In this study, we aimed to determine the presence of any potential gender differences and relationships in terms of creativity, physical activity (PA), motor fitness, and motor creativity in children aged 8-9 years., Methods: The study included 195 primary school children (92 girls and 103 boys) aged 8-9 years old from grade 2. To determine creativity, the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production was used, while motor creativity was assessed using Torrance's 'Thinking Creatively in Action and Movement' test. Motor fitness was assessed with the selected items from the Eurofit battery and Piórkowski tests. The level of moderate-to-vigorous PA was determined with the Physical Activity Screening Measure. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed for in-between group comparison and Spearman's correlation to determine relationships between the variables., Results: The results of the research showed the presence of differences in motor fitness between boys and girls, but no differences in PA, creativity, as well as motor creativity between genders. Moreover, it was found there was no association between PA and motor fitness and creativity or motor creativity in either boys or girls at this age., Conclusions: Thus, it can be assumed that to develop creativity through PA in children aged 8-9 years, it might be necessary to create an appropriate environment and strategy that will strengthen, inspire, and promote children's creativity through movement. Having established that there is no difference in creativity between genders at this age, it was pointed out that it is necessary to look for teaching methods that would effectively awaken this ability in a co-educational setting.

Introduction: Literature underscores the significance of exercise and cognitive stimulation for achieving academic success. This study aims to investigate the effects of the technology-based "Active Before the First School Bell" programme, comparing the effects of two school-based interventions (physical activity vs. cognitive engagement) on the academic skills of 8-9-year-old children., Methods: This encompasses their school skills, visual-motor coordination, levels and attitudes towards physical activity, and fitness. The study involved 88 primary school children (age: 8.3 years, 58.0% girls). To assess the programme's distinct effects children were categorised into three groups. The first group ( n  = 31) participated in cognitive classes (CEG), the second ( n  = 27), in physical activity classes (PAEG), and the third ( n  = 30), was a control one (CG). A 12-week intervention, consisting of three 15-min sessions per week before school, was implemented. Self-report questionnaires gauged levels of physical activity. Academic skills were assessed using a battery of diagnostic methods for school failure in early childhood education. Fitness was measured using selected items from the Eurofit test battery. Pre- and post-test measures were collected and analysed, employing one-way ANOVA on ranks with Dunn's post-hoc tests., Results: Significant post-test differences between the groups were observed in visual spatial function, with the PAEG outperforming the CG, and in auditory and language functions, where both experimental groups outperformed the CG. Results suggest that before school physical activities may be more effective than cognitive activities in improving the academic skills., Conclusion: The short-term effects obtained provide insights for implementing before-school programmes for children in the early school years., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Korcz, Krzysztoszek, Bojkowski, Koszałka-Silska, Khorkova, Gomołysek and Bronikowski.)

Background: There is no consensus on the benefits of physical activity (PA) regarding upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) among children. This study aimed to determine an association between the PA level and URTIs in preschoolers., Methods: In 4-7-year-old participants, URTI symptoms were monitored using the Polish version of the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory System Survey for Kids. The daily number of steps, PA intensity, and sleep duration were measured with a Garmin-vivofit pedometer. The lag effect between the initial level of daily PA and the frequency of infections was evaluated., Results: The average daily step count from healthy days was a significant determinant of the total number of days with the URTI symptoms, and it accounted for 44% (p < 0.001) of this variable variance. A low level of baseline PA (initial 14-day "run-in" observation period) was associated with an increased risk of URTI. In the non-sport group, the severity of the URTI symptoms depended on the number of daily steps. No significant correlation was found between sleep duration and the number of URTI days., Conclusion: Low levels of PA in preschoolers result in increased susceptibility to respiratory infections. Parents should encourage children to engage in PA to prevent URTIs., Impact: In pre-school children, higher physical activity (PA) is associated with fewer days of upper respiratory tract infection symptoms (URTIS). Children with a higher average daily step count have fewer days with URTIS over a long-term observation period. A change in the average number of steps per day by 1000 changed the number of days with symptoms of URTI by 4 days. The severity of URTIS was inversely related to the degree of PA. Children who participate in sports 3 or more hours per week have fewer URTIS than those who do not engage in sports regularly., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.)

Background: High levels of physical activity (PA), low levels of screen time, combined with sufficient sleep time, provide better health benefits. However, few studies have examined the association of these behaviours with academic skills. Therefore, this study aims to determine how PA, screen time, and sleep time are related to selected academic skills of 8/9-year-old children while examining compliance with the guidelines on PA, sedentary behaviour, and sleep among this population group., Methods: This cross-sectional study included 114 primary school children (50% girls) aged 8-9years old from 2nd grade. The levels of PA, screen time, and sleep were assessed using self-reported questionnaires. The selected academic skills (based on reading and writing) were assessed by a battery of methods designed to diagnose the causes of school failure in students aged 7-9. Non-linear regression was applied to build multivariate models aimed at finding the most significant predictors for the selected academic skills separately., Results: Sixty-seven percent of children met the sleep guidelines, 22% met the screen time guidelines, and only 8% met PA guidelines. In terms of screen time, boys spent more time playing games than girls (p = .008). Moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) was associated with higher/better scores of the visual-auditory integration (B = -0.07, p = .040). Not meeting the sleep guidelines was associated with lower scores in visual-auditory integration among children (B = 0.12, p = .042). Children who did not meet the screen time guidelines had lower scores in perceptual-motor integration (B = -0.09, p = .040)., Conclusions: Participating in PA, limiting screen time and sufficient sleep time may benefit/support academic skills in children., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

In this article we focus on moral issues related to sport and e-sport. We attempt to identify the role that contemporary sport and e-sport play in the education of young people. To this end, we analyse the axiological foundations of both types of sport. In our opinion, there is a difference in the impact of e-sport and sport (especially Olympic sport) as carriers of values. Sport, properly conducted in the educational process, can positively influence the moral and biological/physical development of human beings, mobilizing them to physical activity appropriate to the discipline. This important element is basically missing in e-sports. Moreover, in the process of sports training, the athlete is supported by a coach who can explain both positive and negative phenomena occurring during this process. In e-sports, the role of the coach is limited to creating game tactics and maximizing the outcome of the competition, and the question of who teaches young players in both types of sports what is morally right and wrong remains open.

Objective: The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Brainballs on the physical fitness of 2nd-grade students at a primary school in Vietnam during and eight months after the experiment., Methods: The study included 55 pupils (23 boys and 32 girls) aged seven years. The study design was a pedagogical experiment with a parallel-group technique, including experimental and control groups. The examination was carried out in 2019/2020 in three terms pre- (September 2019), post- (January 2020), and follow-up (September 2020). Physical fitness was tested with the use of the International Physical Fitness Test. The Brainball program, conducted twice a week for 35 minutes, combined physical education (PE) with subject-related content, utilizing 100 balls with painted letters, numbers, and signs., Results: Results show that the fitness level was not increased significantly after 20 weeks of the intervention program, neither in experimental nor control groups. However, it significantly improved eight months later at the follow-up examination. The analysis of covariance indicated that pupils from the experimental group improved significantly on most physical fitness as compared to the control group, specifically on the following tests: 50-meter running ( p = 0.0044), toe touch ( p = 0.0137), standing long jump ( p = 0.0076), 4 × 10 m sprint ( p = 0.0333), hand strength ( p = 0.0233)., Conclusions: These results have shown long-term positive effects of the use of "Brainball" educational balls in physical education classes on the physical fitness development of students, especially in the qualities of speed, strength, and flexibility., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Pham, Rokita, Cichy, Wawrzyniak and Bronikowski.)

We evaluated the effectiveness of a 15-week intervention that increased from three to five lessons of physical education (PE) a week on 7-year-old boys' and girls' physical fitness (PF), physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviour on week and weekend days. A total of 212 first grade pupils (mean age 6.95 ± 0.43) from two urban schools in Poznań were randomly assigned to the experimental or control groups. The PF was measured with a battery of field tests, while health-related behaviours were assessed with the Healthy Children in Sound Communities questionnaire. There were some interaction effects noticed in the PF scores in the case of a 20-min run for boys (F 2,196 = 5.29, p = 0.0058) and for girls (F 2,220 = 3.31, p = 0.0382) and the sit-ups test for boys (F 2,196 = 1.93, p = 0.1478) and for girls (F 2,220 = 3.98, p = 0.0201) and for the sit and reach test in the case of girls (F 2,220 = 3.98, p = 0.0201). In terms of outdoor PA levels, there were no major differences between any of the examined groups. Differences were found between girls from the experimental and control groups in the post-test ( p = 0.0107) and follow-up ( p = 0.0390) during the weekdays, with no differences between the groups of boys. Despite the moderate effects of the extended PE time programme right after the intervention, there were some indications of progress in the follow-up experiments.

Background: The goal was to examine the influence of sensory integration therapy (SIT) on one leg standing in children with deficits of the postural stability., Methods: 28 children 4-6 year old that could not stand on one leg for more than 20 seconds were randomly divided into control "C" and experimental "E" groups. Group "C" participated in standard classes in the kindergarten. Group "E" participated in sensory integration therapy (SIT) for 2 weeks, 5 times a week (additionally to the standard classes)., Results: Results of the experiment show that the skill of standing on one leg has significantly improved (P<0.01) in the group that underwent additional therapy. The change in time of standing on the right leg with eyes open in the E group was statistically and significantly higher than the changes observed in the same time in group C (F=22.5, P=0.001' η 2 =0.44). Similarly, significant changes in time of standing on the right leg with eyes closed were observed in group E. The foregoing changes were bigger in group E than in group C (F=16. 1, P=0.004, η 2 =0.36). The analysis post hoc revealed that while there were no significant differences between the two groups on the pretest (P>0.05), there were significant differences between groups in right leg standing test with eyes open or closed on posttest. (P<0.05). Similar results were observed during on the one, left leg standing. The time of one leg standing with both eyes open and closed improved more significantly in group E than in group C (F=20.4, P=0.001, η 2 =0.42 respectively for the test with eyes open and F=7.4, P=0.010, η 2 =0.21 for the test with eyes closed). The analysis post hoc revealed that while there were no significant differences between the two groups on the pretest (P>0.05), there were significant differences between groups in left leg standing test with eyes open or closed on posttest (P<0.05)., Conclusions: Research conducted show that there is a positive influence of SIT on children with low level of postural stability. Its significant improvement in children with low levels of postural stability is important not only for the current functioning of those children but for their future - by protecting them from falling down and from injuries.

Background: The Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey for Kids (WURSS-K) is a self-administered questionnaire developed to evaluate the severity of the common cold. It is a patient-oriented instrument that evaluates quality of life in an illness-specific manner to be used in children aged 10 years. The purpose of this study was to validate the Polish version of the Wisconsin Upper Respiratory Symptom Survey for Kids., Methods: The validation process consisted of five stages: forward translation, backward translation, cognitive debriefing, a pilot study (Study A and Study B), and statistical analysis. The first study (Study A, n = 10, aged 5-13) was conducted in the Emergency Room and an Outpatient Clinic of the Pediatric University Hospital in Warsaw. The purpose of the study was to obtain data for testing the convergent validity of the questionnaire. The second study (Study B, n = 56), consisted of children aged four to six enrolled in three kindergartens in the Warsaw suburbs. The obtained data were subjected to detailed statistical analysis., Results: The WURSS Kids Polish showed excellent reliability. The Cronbach's alpha of the 13 items was 0.791 for the six symptom items and 0.854 for the seven functional items. The Jonckheere-Terpstra trend test was used to evaluate criterion validity. Compliance of the measurement performed independently by the examined person and the doctor on the first day was high (convergent validity). Each particular item was characterized by a different sensitivity to clinical change. The Guyatt's Responsiveness index ranged from 0.083 to 0.464., Conclusion: The internal consistency of the measurements and cross-cultural adaptation of the Polish version of WURSS Kids was satisfactory. The WURSS Kids Polish is a reliable, valid, and responsive disease-specific questionnaire for assessing symptoms and QOL in Polish patients in the pediatric population with the common cold. It may be used both in clinical practice and for research among Polish children with URTI.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the BRAINballs program on second graders' gross motor skills in a primary school in Vietnam. A total of 55 students (23 boys and 32 girls) aged seven years participated in the study. The research used the method of a pedagogical experiment and parallel group technique (experimental and control group) with pre- and post-testing. The study was conducted in the school year 2019/2020. The gross motor skills performance was assessed by the Test of Gross Motor Development-2nd Edition. The BRAINballs program was conducted twice a week and combined physical activity with subject-related contents by means of a set of 100 balls with painted letters, numbers, and signs. The results showed that the experimental and control groups improved their motor skills after one school year ( p < 0.001). However, the analysis of covariance demonstrated that students from the experimental group, compared to students from the control group, showed significantly better scores in both subtests: locomotor ( p = 0.0000) and object control skills ( p = 0.0000). The findings of this study show that the BRAINballs program had a positive effect on children's motor performances and may help to better understand the development of basic motor skills of seven-year-old students in Vietnam.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine adolescents' perceptions of parental, teacher, and peer support for physical activity, and to examine the associations between these perceptions and physical activity behavior., Methods: The study included 902 secondary school students, who completed the Short Scale of Youth's Social Support Assessment (SSYSS). The level of physical activity - more specifically, moderate to vigorous physical activity - was measured using a Physical Activity Screening Measure. The associations were examined by a five-step hierarchical regression. Body mass index (BMI) was defined using the LMS method, which summarizes the distribution of BMI by age and gender in terms of three curves, L (lambda), M (mu), and S (sigma), and was based on a nationally representative sample of Polish children and adolescents., Results: The study indicated a positive correlation between MVPA (moderate to vigorous physical activity) and three sources of social support; however, in the regression model, this explained only part of the variance. In the hierarchical multiple regression analysis, MVPA level was predicted by five variables involvement in sports training, teachers support, parents support, gender and BMI. The direct effects for teachers and parents support were similar. This demonstrates that both teachers' and parents' social support exert influence on adolescent MVPA., Conclusions: The findings from this research suggest that school-based interventions for adolescents should specifically take into consideration family, teachers, and peers as important sources of social support for general physical activity promotion that aims to increase its levels., Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare that there they have no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s) 2020.)

The study examined the moral competence levels in adolescents participating in individual/team sports compared with those not undertaking sports at all. In total, 827 students aged 15-17 years old (45.4% boys, 54.6% girls) from randomly selected secondary schools in the Wielkopolska region in Poland participated in the study. The moral competences were assessed using the Lind's Moral Competence Test. The students also answered questions concerning their statues of involvement in sport (not involved; amateur; professional), years of involvement, and the type of sport they partook in (individual/team). The results highlight that the moral competence level in most of the examined adolescents (71.6% girls, 76.8% boys) was low. Those who presented a high moral competence level were 10.4% in girls, 8% in boys. There was no interaction between modes of involvement in sport and moral competence when comparing adolescents. The moral competence levels were not correlated with years of training in either mode of involvement or with type of sports. Therefore, we assume that, at this age, the type of sport and the level of engagement do not differentiate moral competence level and that there must be more factors contributing to this. This opens new directions for further research on the role of external factors stimulating the socio-moral growth of youth.

Family time may have an influence on children's physical activity (PA) participation or may contribute to increased sedentary behaviour. The aim of this paper was to examine whether spending family time is associated with the PA of children aged 10-11. Cross-sectional data on 158 primary school children (80 girls and 78 boys) with a mean age of 10.6 ± 0.49 years were collected. Weight and height were used to calculate body mass index. The level of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was determined with a physical activity screening measure. Participants wore a Vivofit ® wrist band activity tracker to measure their daily number of steps. The Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children questionnaire was used to obtain information from children about the frequency of activities undertaken by the family. Analyses entailed descriptive statistics of the total sample and by gender, t -test, and the Mann-Whitney U-test to examine the gender differences and Spearman's correlation coefficients. It was found that 32.3% of the children did not accomplish at least 60 min per day on ≥5 of the seven days and more than 75.9% of them did not accumulate at least 12,000 or more steps daily. More boys than girls tended to be sufficiently active and met the guideline of at least 60 min per day on ≥5 of the seven days (70.5% and 65.0%, respectively) or 12,000 steps per day (25.8% and 10.0%, respectively). The number of steps during the weekday was significantly and inversely associated both in girls and in boys with active family time ( r = -0.27 and r = -0.25, respectively), and with total family time ( r = -0.28) and non-active family time ( r = -0.25) only in boys. Average MVPA was also inversely correlated with active family time ( r = -0.31), non-active family time ( r = -0.24), and total family time ( r = -0.29) in boys. The correlation effect size values ranged between small to medium significant differences for these measures. The findings underscore the need for community-based PA programmes designed for whole families to meet the recommended PA of children and also to develop and promote active leisure activities among families., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

The transition from kindergarten to school is associated with a variety of negative changes. After entry to elementary school physical activity level decreases. Moreover, physical fitness level of children over the past decades have rapidly declined. Children are spending an increasing amount of time in the environments that require constant sitting. We evaluated the differences between boys and girls in physical fitness, frequency of undertaking of different forms of physical activity, prevalence of underweight and overweight, and time spent on sedentary behavior. A total of 212 first grade pupils (mean age 6.95 ± 0.43) from two standard urban schools in Poznań participated in the study. Compared to girls, boys obtained better results in 20-meter run (4.9 s and 5.0 s, p < 0.01), sit-ups (16.8 and 15.3, p < 0.05), six-minute run (829.7 m and 766.4 m, p < 0.001), and standing broad jump (106.8 cm and 99.7 cm, p < 0.01). In the sit-and-reach test girls achieved higher results than boys (17.0 cm and 14.4 cm, p < 0.001). There were no gender differences in prevalence of underweight and overweight. In conclusions, difference between genders should be taken into consideration during designing physical activity programs in the aspects of intensity and forms of physical activities., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

This paper reports the results of an experiment that aimed to study transfer training in fencing. Fencers from the experimental group underwent six-week transfer training while those from the control group underwent regular fencing training. The fencers' performance was analyzed thrice: before the experimental training (pretest), immediately after it (posttest), and four weeks after it (retention test). Using a device that simulates fencing moves and analyzes the accuracy of such performance, participants completed, with both hands, three tests related to straight thrust accuracy. While no differences in hand grip strength was observed between the two groups across the three tests, significant differences occurred in terms of their performance on the device. The groups did not differ in the pretests and the retention tests. However, the fencers from the experimental group generally performed better in postests than prestests. These results show that bilateral transfer can be effective in foil fencing training, although its positive effects are short-term. In order to be effective, transfer training should be used as a regular training tool.

Left handers have long held the edge over right handers in one-on-one interactive combat sports. Particularly in fencing, top rankings show a relatively strong overrepresentation of left handers over right handers. Whether this can be attributed to perceptual strategies used by fencers in their bouts remains to be established. This study aims to verify whether right-handed fencers assess their opponents' behaviour based on different perceptual strategies when fencing a left vs. right hander. Twelve top-level (i.e., Olympic fencers, Junior World Team Fencing Champions, and top Polish senior foil fencers) right-handed female foil fencers (aged 16-30 years) took part in the study. They performed a total of 40 actions: 10 repetitions of offensive actions (attack) and 10 repetitions of defensive actions (defence), each type of action performed under 2 conditions (right- vs. left-handed opponent). While the participants were fencing, their eye movements were being recorded with a remote eye-tracker (SMI ETG 2.0). Both in their offensive and defensive actions, the fencers produced more fixations to the armed hand and spent more time observing the armed hand in duels with a left-handed (vs. right-handed) opponent. In defence, it was also the guard that attracted more fixations and gained a longer observation time in bouts with a left hander. In duels with a right-handed opponent, a higher number of fixations in attack and in defence, and longer observation times in defence were found for the upper torso. The results may point to different perceptual strategies employed in bouts with left- vs. right-handed individuals. The findings from this study may help to promote the implementation of specialized perceptual training programmes in foil fencing., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Mateusz Witkowski et al.)

Background: The study purpose was to investigate the level of moral competences and prosocial behaviours in a physical activity (PA) context and differences between first year freshman students enrolled in both the physical education and sport coaching majors., Methods: We draw on data from students of the Faculties of Physical Education (109) and Sport (94) at Poznan University of Physical Education. For measurement, Lind's Moral Competence Test was used. Comparative analysis of differences between the groups was undertaken with the use of Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric analysis of variance was used for further analysis., Results: The results show that there were no significant differences between the examined students in majority of the characteristics. Students comply with the recommended levels of physical activity, but 70% present low level of moral competences. Parents were the most influential factors in moral development across levels of competences and genders. More years of sports training showed a positive relationship with moral development (only in the group of male students with high level of moral competency)., Conclusions: Based on the findings, it is recommended to consider the changes in physical education and sport students education training programmes which should include more critical reflection and life-long learning competences.

Introduction: Obesity is a serious health problem in nearly all regions of Europe. During the last four decades, the percentage of obese people increased four times among men and twice among women, reaching a global epidemic scale as the biggest health-related issue in the developed and developing countries., Objective: The aim was to assess the epidemiological situation of obesity, according to gender among adults in Europe, compared with other regions and selected worldwide countries, as well as to devise a forecast for the near future based on analysis results., Material and Methods: An overview was performed of the World Health Organization (WHO) statistical database in 1999-2016, concerning obesity prevalence among people over the age of 20 across 28 countries of the European Union. A forecast for the years 2020 and 2030 was prepared by evaluation of gradients for trendline equations. Moreover, some of the world regions, as well as individual countries, five per region, were collated and analyzed to prepare the forecast., Results: The percentage of obese people in the countries of the European Union continues to increase every year. The dynamics of obesity growth in Europe is greater for men than for women (3.09% per year vs. 1.92% per year). With the growth rate remaining at the estimated level, in 2030 there will probably be more obese men (38.1%) than women (32.7%) in Poland, and in Europe likewise - 36.6% and 32.0%, respectively., Conclusions: Obesity has become a major epidemiological problem and an undisputable health problem not only in Poland and other European countries, but worldwide.

Currently, there is no consensus regarding the benefits of physical activity in terms of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) among different age groups of children. The number of school students avoiding physical education is on the rise. Children of all ages spend more time on sedentary behavior, eat less nutritious food and spend less time sleeping. All of these concomitant aspects adversely affect the immune system. A coexisting problem of a growing society is a large number of URTIs which is the main reason for general practitioner intervention. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a correlation between the frequency of respiratory tract infections and the level of physical exercise in a cohort of pre-school children. This will be a cross-sectional, short-term study conducted on a single study population. We aim to recruit four-, to seven-year-old children who will be receiving activity monitoring devices for 24 h a day for 40 days. Daily step count, mean intensity of physical exercise and sleep duration will be measured. Simultaneously, their parents will receive a series of 60 questionnaires, one questionnaire per day, for the daily assessment of upper respiratory infection (URI) symptoms. Our study conducted on a cohort of healthy pre-school children using uniform tools, aims to scientifically establish and quantify the relationship between physical activity and health outcomes over a specified period of time.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the motives for undertaking physical activity (PA) and the intensity of PA in Polish adolescents., Methods: The study included 1,231 students, 515 boys (age 16.2 ± 0.7 years) and 716 girls (age 16.3 ± 0.6 years). The participants were recruited from secondary schools in 20 conurbations throughout Poland. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Long Form and the Motives for Physical Activity Measure-Revised were used., Results: In boys, all motives predicted a 10.4% variance in vigorous intensity of PA ( F (5, 509) = 11.822, p < .001). Higher scores on competence and appearance motives for PA were found to be predictors of higher level of vigorous intensity of PA. In girls, all motives explained a 7.4% variance in vigorous intensity of PA ( F (5, 710) = 11.292, p < .001). Higher scores on competence and appearance motives for PA were found to be predictors of higher level of vigorous intensity of PA., Conclusions: This study shows that competence and appearance related motives for PA are important motivations for Polish adolescent girls and boys in undertaking vigorous intensity PA.

Background: A high level of motor coordination (with an emphasis on the accuracy of hand movements) is an important part of fencers' training. Research on motor coordination shows that both hemispheres of the brain are involved in controlling the action of each of the upper limbs. As the physical training of one hand is believed to significantly increase the performance of the other (untrained) hand, the authors attempt to verify the hypothesis that specialized training of the non-dominant limb can improve the performance of the dominant hand in fencing., Methods: The study was carried out in Poznań, Poland, in 2015 and involved the experimental (N.=8) and control (N.=8) groups of cadets (12.7±0.5 years old); body mass 38.69±4.08; body height 153.47±6.17), who were randomly selected from fencers belonging to the Fencing Club "Warta" in Poznań, Poland. Participants in the study belonged to one training group with a similar training experience of about 6 years. All participants in the study (N.=16) declared right-handedness during trainings and duels. Their right lateralization was also confirmed in a survey, which was conducted using the Edinburgh Questionnaire. The experimental training program included six weeks of specialized training of the coordination skills of the non-dominant side. It was carried out five times a week. Each session took 30 minutes. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of transfer (interhemispheric) training with the use of the non-dominant hand in particular, on the performance of the dominant hand in fencing., Results: The results indicate that the transfer (interhemispheric) training reduced test accomplishment time in tasks performed with the right upper limb during accuracy tests. The procedures applied in the study also reduced test accomplishment time in tasks performed with the left upper limb., Conclusions: The study demonstrates that an interhemispheric training program can effectively improve the accuracy of fencing actions, at least in the early stages of training.

This study sought to determine differences in fencers' visual perceptions during duels (preparatory actions) with right- versus left-handed opponents. Participants were 12 top-ranking right-handed female foil fencers (aged 16-30 years, M = 20.86, SD = 4.76) taking part in a training camp. Testing employed SensoMotoric Instruments Eye Tracking Glasses (SMI ETG 2.0) with eye-tracking analyses covering the visual attention time devoted to various areas of the opposing fencer's body (areas of interest), average fixation, number of glances, and number of fixations during preparatory actions in duels. Each test was conducted during preparatory actions in 20-second staged duels, first against a right-handed, and then against a left-handed opponent. Against left-handed (vs. right-handed) opponents, fencers spent significantly more time looking at and significantly more often fixated on the armed hand. When fighting against right-handed (vs. left-handed) opponents, fencers devoted more time and fixated more often on the opponent's upper torso. These results may point to an interesting phenomenon in which left-handed fencers benefit from weaker strategies adopted by their right-handed opponents who may fixate on the forearm and arm of the weapon hand.

Background: Decline in physical activity (PA), specifically in adolescents raises concerns. Setting goals and strategies are often used to increase the level of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), recently introducing also modern technological devices for achieving different goals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two different goal strategies in increasing PA of youth. It was expected that there would be positive relationships between support and goal strategy which would contribute to increase MVPA. Classmate and teacher support scales were used to evaluate support in physical education (PE) classes. Activity trackers were used to count daily steps., Methods: Data were collected from 65 late adolescents, divided into two groups: "Goal" (group 1) and "Do your best" (group 2) set with different step goals and strategies. Differences between the terms were tested. To compare MVPA levels with the different level of support they received in girls and boys, a two-way ANOVA was used., Results: There was a difference noticed in teacher support between the genders in all the two groups in favor of boys. Boys with low teacher support in group 1 indicated a higher level of MVPA. In group 2 when teacher support was high girls reported the highest level of MVPA., Conclusions: This study has shown that in terms of MVPA teacher support is more efficient than a goal strategy. The results highlight the importance of perceived teacher support for motivation in PA and pointed at PE teachers as the agents of behavior change, specifically in girls.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the Brain Breaks® Physical Activity Solutions in changing attitudes toward physical activity of school children in a community in Poland. In 2015, a sample of 326 pupils aged 9-11 years old from 19 classes at three selected primary schools were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups within the study. During the classes, children in the experimental group performed physical activities two times per day in three to five minutes using Brain Breaks® videos for four months, while the control group did not use the videos during the test period. Students' attitudes toward physical activities were assessed before and after the intervention using the "Attitudes toward Physical Activity Scale". Repeated measures of ANOVA were used to examine the change from pre- to post-intervention. Overall, a repeated measures ANOVA indicated time-by-group interaction effects in 'Self-efficacy on learning with video exercises', F(1.32) = 75.28, p = 0.00, η2 = 0.19. Although the changes are minor, there were benefits of the intervention. It may be concluded that HOPSports Brain Breaks® Physical Activity Program contributes to better self-efficacy on learning while using video exercise of primary school children., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background: The sense of empowerment that comes from good health based on an ability to manage daily challenges is something that needs to be developed and supported from childhood into adulthood. This early empowerment may help to maintain a healthy lifestyle of young people, especially in places which have recently suffered severely from high social tension and stress., Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the associations of sense of coherence (SOC), physical activity (PA), and the role of gender and age in young adolescents from Kosovo. A total of 1296 adolescents aged 13-16 years from randomly selected schools in the seven major municipalities of Kosovo participated in the study in 2014. SOC was determined with a short version of a SOC-13 questionnaire with its three components: manageability (SOC-Ma), meaningfulness (SOC-Me), and comprehensibility (SOC-Co). The level of PA was determined with a Physical Activity Screening Measure. The associations were examined by a three-way hierarchical regression., Results: The analyses indicated that young Kosovar boys with strong SOC were characterized by a higher level of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA). There was no such effect in girls. Interactional effects were noticed for Kosovar boys for meaningfulness and comprehensibility sub-components of SOC and the level of MVPA. Strong meaningfulness was associated with higher MVPA. For girls, we showed differentiation according to age groups, we noticed that older adolescent girls with strong meaningfulness also had higher MVPA. No significant associations were found in the two other sub-components of SOC., Conclusions: The association between global SOC, gender and age indicated the interactions with the level of MVPA. People with higher SOC are characterized by a higher level of MVPA, but the relation is gender sensitive. This versatility should be taken into account in planning future PA intervention, specifically in societies with high ethnical and religious strains.

The objective of this study was to investigate the association between physical activity (PA) and different goal setting and strategies in youth. The study took into consideration different sources of support as well as gender variations. Classmate and Teacher Support scales were used to evaluate support in physical education (PE) classes, and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) was reported. Garmin Vivofit(®) activity trackers were used during an 8 week-long intervention to count daily steps. Data was collected from 65 adolescents (mean age 17.2 ± 0.2), 74 young adolescents (mean age 15.3 ± 0.2) and 57 children (mean age 11.5 ± 0.4). An experimental design was employed, with "goal" and "do your best" groups given different step goal strategies. The results show that both groups achieved a comparable number of steps. Two-way ANOVA showed interactional effects between gender and teacher support. There were no such effects for MVPA and number of steps. Although classmate support in PE was reported to be reasonably high, the findings show that it does not play a significant role in increasing MVPA behaviors in youths. However, the problem of significantly lower support given to adolescent girls by PE teachers should be embedded into the teaching context of PE students and counteracted in school setting realities., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interests.

The promotion of physical activity (PA) in children and their parents requires effective planning and sometimes even interventions. This study shows the effect of PA during a 15-week intervention program "Junior for Seniors" by applying a socioecological model to the interpretation of the data. This comprehensive approach emphasizes the fact that health promotion should focus not only on intrapersonal factors but also on the multilevel factors that might be determinants and modulators of increased PA. In 2015, 24 children ("juniors," 14 girls and 10 boys, aged M = 7.96 ± 0.69) and 22 parents ("seniors," 14 mothers aged M = 38.86 ± 2.96 and 8 fathers aged M = 37.38 ± 2.97) were voluntarily enrolled in a study spread across three primary schools in the city of Poznań, Poland. The effectiveness of the intervention was determined according to postintervention behavioural changes in PA in comparison to preintervention levels, as reported by the parents and children. Overall, the study found increases in PA levels and reductions in sedentary time. Although the changes are modest, there are some unrecognized benefits of the intervention which may have occurred, such as improved sport and motor skills, more frequent family social behaviours (walks, meals, and visiting relatives), or simply improved quality of "do-together" leisure time PA.