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This descriptive-correlational study investigated three research questions: (a) What are the leisure time activities (LTA) of school-aged African American and Hispanic boys and girls?, (b) What are their body mass index (BMI) distributions?, and (c) What relationships exist between total activity scores of LTA and BMI in the total sample of children, and for boys and girls analyzed separately? The convenience sample consisted of 78 children, aged 9 to 14, who were in the fifth to seventh grades of two elementary schools. Children responded to a modified version of the Know Your Body Health Habits Survey to assess LTA; BMI was calculated based on child height and weight. Results indicated that the LTAs of this group of African American and Hispanic children and their distribution of BMIs were similar to those of White children, and that no appreciable relationships existed between LTAs and BMI in the sample as a whole or boys and girls analyzed separately., Obesity is fast becoming a major health problem in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2002) and throughout the world (World Health Organization, 2002), affecting all [...]

Sport and physical activity produce health benefits at all ages and in many different disease conditions and are important in childhood for optimizing bone mass and reducing obesity and insulin resistance. The psychological effects of exercise and its role in reducing anxiety and depression in the patients with cardiac disease and in older people should not be underestimated but it is important to recognize both the desired outcomes and potential risks of physical activity in different populations.

* OBJECTIVE Students should understand * Many teens are devoting themselves intensely to a single sport. * A healthy teenage lifestyle should balance physical activity with important short- and long-term [...]

July is Recreation & Parks Month, and hundreds of park and recreation agencies are celebrating the theme of "Enhancing the Quality of Sports through Parks and Recreation" along with NRPA […]

Prepuberal growth does not appear to be significantly affected by participation in competitive sports. Choice of sport for children 9-13 is best determined by the child's physical endurance and strength.

Fifteen tips to help joints stay fit and maintain their strength are presented. A study has revealed that 83% of sports injuries involve joints. The importance of stretching and wearing the correct clothing is described.

The prevalence estimates of meeting physical activity guidelines are dependent on how the physical activity is measured and what scoring protocol is used. Data show that the proportion meeting the fitness guidelines range from 32 to 59% and prevalence estimates of meeting guidelines of different sport regulatory agencies depend on the evaluation procedures.

Athletes who play contact sports associated with repetitive head impacts, such as football and ice hockey, may be at increased risk for Lewy body disease, which can cause Parkinson's, a [...]

This article describes ways to prevent injuries to athletes who have common colds. The roles of knowledge, avoiding moisture, correct nutrition, and good physical condition are discussed.

Objectives: To estimate and describe morbidity from sports and recreation injuries in children and adolescents. Design: Survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics--the Child Health Supplement to the 1988 National Health Interview Survey. Setting: The general community. Participants: Representative sample of the noninstitutionalized civilian US population. Five percent of the eligible households did not participate. The subject of this report is 11 840 children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 years. Main Outcome Measures: Medically attended nonfatal injuries resulting from sports and recreation, and serious sports injuries, defined as injuries resulting in hospitalization, surgical treatment, missed school, or half a day or more in bed. Sports and recreation injuries were defined as those occurring in a place of recreation or sports, or receiving any of the following International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) E-codes: struck in sports, fall in sports, bicycle-related injury, riding an animal, water sports, overexertion, fall from playground equipment or other vehicles, primarily skates and skateboards. Results: The estimated annual number of all injuries from sports and recreation in US children and adolescents is 4 379 000 (95% confidence interval=3 147 000 to 5 611 000); from serious sport injuries, 1 363 000 (95% confidence interval=632 000 to 2 095 000). Sports account for 36% of injuries from all causes. Cause and nature of injury are strongly related to age. Sports do not account for a disproportionate number of serious or repeated injuries compared with other causes of injuries. Conclusion: Sports activities account for a large number and substantial proportion of all injuries to children and youth. (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1995;149:1009-1016), Sports and recreational injuries appear to be a common cause of both overall injuries and serious injuries in children. Researchers took data from a national survey of health care utilization in 1988. There were 11,840 children between age 5 and 17 in the survey. Sports and recreational injuries accounted for 36% of injuries overall and 32% of all serious injuries and amounted to an annual rate of 9.7 per 100 children. Boys were almost twice as likely to have a sports-related injury as girls, and the highest injury rates overall were among 10- to 13-year-olds. Sports and recreational injuries caused 59% of all sprains, 48% of fractures and dislocations, and 26% of serious cuts and scrapes. Overexertion, bicycles, and being hit by an object or person were the most frequent causes of sports injuries. Bicycles, skates, and skateboards were responsible for half the sports-related head injuries.

Female athletes now compete in virtually all the main sporting arenas of the world in which the physical differences between the sexes are largely irrelevant because women only compete against [...]

The widening range of sports and the ever increasing number of participants have meant that almost every type of infection may be acquired, directly or indirectly, in the pursuit of [...]

Sport instills self discipline, a competitive spirit, and comradeship. Its value in promoting health, physical strength, endurance, social integration, and psychological wellbeing is of little doubt. It is not difficult […]

Athletes engage in thrill sports like parachuting, hang gliding, and bungee jumping to prove their masculinity. Many thrill sports have become safer due to innovations in equipment, but many athletes flaunt safety by becoming more daring in their activities.

Summer activities involve many hours spent in the sun. Soccer, water skiing, volleyball and water polo are outdoor activities that expose the skin to the sun. Innovative skin protectors help to make these activities fun and worry-free.

The conventional wisdom regarding the cause of collapse in runners involved in long-distance races or triathlons is that dehydration, perhaps coupled with increased body core temperature (hyperthermia), is responsible. The logical therapy for such an individual is the immediate replenishment of lost water via intravenous (IV) infusion. However, recent work by one of the authors, which is summarized here, indicates that such therapy is unnecessary and in certain circumstances may even be life-threatening. The authors investigated the blood chemistry of a group of runners seen at the first aid tent during a 56K endurance race in South Africa. All collapsed runners and athletes with other difficulties (orthopedic problems) were seen at the tent. Thirty-two collapsed runners and 16 who did not collapse were seen. Collapsed runners were assigned randomly to either an IV therapy group or a group that instead received oral fluids and had their legs elevated. The random assignment could be altered by a physician if it was felt that a patient assigned to the oral fluid group could benefit from the conventional IV therapy; thus there were 26 runners in the IV group and six in the oral fluids group. The results indicated that the athletes did not collapse because of lost fluids. Many had decreased levels of blood electrolytes, particularly sodium. Fluid was also found to be pooled in the legs and pelvic regions of the athletes. Athletes who received IVs were found to have a significant dilution of their normal electrolytes (particularly sodium) in the blood that could reach a dangerous level. The authors conclude that the marked hyponatremia (decreased blood sodium) that was found in 54 percent of the IV-treated runners was potentially dangerous to their health; the six runners in the oral fluids group did not develop hyponatremia. Physicians should be aware of the large fluid shifts that occur following collapse and during recovery. Replacement therapies that further reduce blood sodium concentration should be avoided. Collapsed runners who have no biochemical indication of fluid loss should not receive IV fluid therapy. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Since the late 1980s, overtraining (a term with many definitions) of athletes has been an accepted research topic in the area of sports medicine. A phenomenon with physiological and psychological manifestations, overtraining can be defined as a maladaptive response to training resulting from a long period of training overload. It is characterized by decreased performance, also known as staleness, and can befall athletes in any sport. Short periods of intensive training are recognized by most athletes and coaches as necessary for improvement, and it is not easy to tell when these periods have continued for too long. An additional problem is that individual athletes respond very differently to the same heavy training regimen; some may flourish, while others become too stressed. Coaches and others who work with athletes must learn to evaluate players on an individual basis, something that is especially difficult in team sports. Athletes generally have competitive personalities that rebel against reducing their training schedules. No marker has been found to determine when an athlete is training too hard, but the resting heart rate is used, in many cases. Psychological measures that indicate the presence of anger, fatigue, or depression can also provide clues. The Profile of Moods States, a standardized test to evaluate emotional states, is used at the US Olympic Training Center and in international settings as well. Less sophisticated approaches to mood evaluation, such as athletes' diaries, are also effective. Such approaches can fail, though, if physicians or coaches do not know how to treat the psychological effects of overtraining. People who exercise for recreation are rarely thought to suffer from overtraining, even though they may be injured or develop fatigue. But the possibility exists that they, too, may train to excess. Many resist reducing their workout schedules until they see performance falling. The problem of overtraining, however, is particularly pressing for elite athletes, who may risk serious health consequences by training to excess. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Hitting the field or court keeps you fit generally; but researchers at Nova Southeastern University say playing sports may hurt your core function. At the close of their season, college [...]

Research shows that girls who participate in sports do better in school, have higher self-esteem, improved physical fitness and are less likely to drop out of school, get pregnant and do drugs. The attrition rate for girls who drop out of participating in school sports once they reach high school is six times that of boys, and two-thirds of all high school girls are not active in any high school sports. Parents can help to keep their daughters active in sports by offering them encouragement, taking them to practice, lobbying for funding for girls athletic program funding in their town, and taking their daughters to women's sporting events.

Recommended holidays for couples to try out sports or outdoor adventure are described. Vacations offering kayaking, cycling, rafting and yoga are described and details of destinations are given.