Search

Purpose: To estimate temporal trends in broad jump performance for United States youth, a marker of muscular fitness and health. Method: Electronic databases, topical systematic reviews, and personal libraries were systematically searched for studies reporting descriptive standing broad jump data for apparently healthy United States youth (age 10-17 years). Temporal trends at the sex-age level were estimated using sample-weighted regression models associating the year of testing to mean jump performance, with national trends standardized to the year 1985 using a post-stratified population-weighting procedure. Results: Collectively, there was a small increase of 12.6 cm (95%CI: 12.5 to 12.7) or 7.9% (95%CI: 7.1 to 8.6) in 65,527 United States youth between 1911 and 1990. Increases were greater for girls (change in means [95% CI]: 17.1 cm [16.9 to 17.3]; 11.4% [10.7 to 12.2]) compared to boys (change in means [95% CI]: 8.5 cm [8.3 to 8.7]; 4.6% [3.8 to 5.4]), but did not differ between children (10-12 years) and adolescents (13-17 years). Increases in broad jump performance were not always uniform across time, with steady and progressive increases observed for boys and children, respectively, and a diminishing rate of increase observed for girls and adolescents. Conclusions: Muscular fitness is a good marker of health, so greater broad jump performance from 1911 to 1990 may reflect corresponding changes in health. Routine assessment of broad jump performance may be useful to monitor trends in health and muscular fitness of United States youth due to its practicality, scalability, and predictive utility.

This article describes the formation and work of an interdisciplinary team of social work and public health faculty and students. The team developed internships amid the challenges of the pandemic, with a focus on slowing the community spread of COVID-19. The project joined local government, the private sector, and the university in a research study to better understand and influence face mask wearing attitudes and behaviors and in an explicit effort to change related policies. We developed and implemented an action research project that included direct observations of facemask wearing behaviors, surveys regarding beliefs and attitudes about face masks, and interviews with community stakeholders. The project provided empirical data regarding face-covering usage that helped to change local--and then state--policy regarding mask wearing. This article provides a chronological narrative of the experience largely told through the participants' voices, especially those of the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood obesity is a growing public health concern. Research has shown sedentary behavior (SB) increases children's unhealthy food consumption, while physical activity (PA) decreases caloric intake and increases energy expenditure. The purpose of this study was to examine child snack choice following a bout of active, SB, and a mix of SB and active (SB-A). Participants included a volunteer sample of children (n=24) ranging from 9-13 years of age. A within-subjects simple experimental design was used, and children participated in three conditions: active, SB, and SB-A. After each condition, the children were asked to choose one snack from two healthy and two unhealthy options. The children were randomized into one of the six possible condition sequences (4 children per group) based on when they enrolled in the study. Data were analyzed in SPSS (v21) using the Friedman, Wilcoxon Signed-Rank, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. There was not a statistically significant difference in the overall model comparing the three conditions on snack choice (p=0.15). Overweight/obese children were significantly more likely than normal weight children to choose a healthier snack option after the active condition (p=0.02). There was no difference between boys and girls for snack choice following the active (p>0.05), SB (p>0.05), and SB-A (p>0.05). Our overall findings suggest SB and active had no effect on children's snack choice. Promoting PA to children who are overweight/obese could lead to decreased energy intake and increased energy expenditure combating the obesity epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine associations among objectively measured physical activity (PA), body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in firefighters. Methods: Career firefighters (n = 29; male= 100%) wore accelerometers to assess PA. BMI and WC classified obesity. Each participant completed a stage-graded exercise test to determine maximal oxygen uptake (...O2max). Results: Two linear regression models were used to investigate whether PA intensities, step count, BMI, or WC were predictive of "true" ...O2max-Vigorous physical activity (VPA) was predictive of "true" ...O2max (F[1,27] = 7.89, R² = 0.23, P < 0 .01). Additionally, when BMI and WC were added, only WC was predictive of "true" ...O2max (F[1,27] = 11.76, R² = 0.30, P <0.01). Conclusion: Fire departments should be cognizent of ways to increase PA levels, decrease excess weight gain, and maintain CRF to adequately perform job-specific tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity in the U.S. is a public health crisis. This study aims to examine the effects of high-intensity functional training (HIFT) on exercise perceptions and physiological changes in inactive females. A pre-test and post-test, quasi-experimental design was conducted with inactive, middle-aged females ( n = 8) participating in an 8-week supervised and verified intervention (2-week High-Intensity Interval Training, 6-weeks HIFT). The Health Belief Model Scale for Exercise (HBMS-E) survey was completed pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 4-week follow-up to assess exercise perceptions. Pre- and post-intervention physiological assessments included: body composition, strength (1-repetition maximum (RM) bench press (BP), 5-RM deadlift (DL), and maximal oxygen consumption (V̇O 2max ). A within-subjects repeated-measures ANOVA assessed the HBM constructs between pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up. Dependent t-tests compared physiological outcomes pre- to post-intervention. There was a significant decrease between pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up for objective ( F (2, 14)=22.24, p < .001) and subjective barriers ( F (2, 14) = 11.20, p = .001), and a significant increase in self-efficacy ( F (1.08, 7.53)= 8.96, p = .02). There was a significant increase in V̇O 2max ( p = .001, d = 1.81), 1-RM BP ( p < .001, d = 2.51), and 5-RM DL ( p = .001, d = 1.83) pre- to post-intervention. Findings suggest HIFT positively influenced middle-aged females' perceptions of barriers and self-efficacy related to exercise and provides fitness benefits to improve health and wellness.