Fitness Measures and Health Outcomes in Youth


Book Description

Physical fitness affects our ability to function and be active. At poor levels, it is associated with such health outcomes as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Physical fitness testing in American youth was established on a large scale in the 1950s with an early focus on performance-related fitness that gradually gave way to an emphasis on health-related fitness. Using appropriately selected measures to collected fitness data in youth will advance our understanding of how fitness among youth translates into better health. In Fitness Measures and Health Outcomes in Youth, the IOM assesses the relationship between youth fitness test items and health outcomes, recommends the best fitness test items, provides guidance for interpreting fitness scores, and provides an agenda for needed research. The report concludes that selected cardiorespiratory endurance, musculoskeletal fitness, and body composition measures should be in fitness surveys and in schools. Collecting fitness data nationally and in schools helps with setting and achieving fitness goals and priorities for public health at an individual and national level.




Essentials of Youth Fitness


Book Description

ACSM's Essentials of Youth Fitness is the authoritative guide on motor skill development, aerobic and anaerobic conditioning, and strength, power, speed and agility training for young athletes.




Educating the Student Body


Book Description

Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.




The Routledge Handbook on Pediatric Physical Activity


Book Description

Over the past three decades the study of pediatric physical inactivity has become a public health concern. The decreases in physical activity have been associated with obesity and numerous hypokinetic diseases. In accordance with this public health concern, the study of pediatric physical activity has become a central part of research in the health and exercise science fields. The Routledge Handbook of Youth Physical Activity is the first book to survey the full depth and breadth of the issues facing this field. Bringing together many of the world's experts and practitioners, the book helps to develop an understanding of the underlying issues related to pediatric physical activity as well as the role physical activity plays on cognitive, psychomotor, and social aspects of childhood. The book addresses issues with physical activity measurement and discuss wide-ranging aspects of physical activity interventions. With more emphasis than ever on physical activity, this book makes an important contribution to the scholars and practitioners working in the field of youth physical activity. This is the first single text on the state of current knowledge related to pediatric physical activity which offers a comprehensive guide to students and academics on these subjects The Routledge Handbook of Youth Physical Activity is key reading for all advanced students, researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers with an interest in physical activity, youth sport, public health matters, sport studies, or physical education.




Youth Strength Training


Book Description

SUPERANNO Leading experts Avery Faigenbaum and Wayne Westcott guide you in developing safe, effective, and enjoyable training programs for ages seven to eighteen. Advice will help kids safely develop a strong musculoskeletal system that can help them improve their health and fitness and also withstand the rigors of sport participation. Includes the most up-to-date information in the areas of nutrition, hydration, and recovery to maximize the effects of strength training and minimize the risks of overtraining. Original.




National Health Education Standards


Book Description

Concluding a two-year review and revision process supported by the American Cancer Society and conducted by an expert panel of health education professionals, this second edition of the National Health Education Standards is the foremost reference in establishing, promoting, and supporting health-enhancing behaviors for students in all grade levels. These guidelines and standards provide a framework for teachers, administrators, and policy makers in designing or selecting curricula, allocating instructional resources, and assessing student achievement and progress; provide students, families, and communities with concrete expectations for health education; and advocate for quality health education in schools, including primary cancer prevention for children and youth.




Athletic Fitness for Kids


Book Description

Finally, here is a conditioning program designed to fully develop a young athlete's physical skills without dropout, injury, or burnout. Athletic Fitness for Kidsenhances athletic skills for young athletes using a fun, self-directed, and self-tested system. Gamelike activities help young athletes develop seven key sport skills: -Flexibility -Coordination -Balance -Stamina -Strength -Speed -Agility Athletic Fitness for Kidsincludes drills, games, and exercises that cross over with popular sports such as baseball, basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer, and tennis. Sport-specific drill suggestions are also included. Developed by Scott Lancaster, founder and CEO of Youth Evolution Sports, and Radu Teodorescu, fitness adviser, Athletic Fitness for Kidswill maximize athletic potential and open doors to a lifetime of fitness and sport participation.




Physical Activity Effects on the Anthropological Status of Children, Youth and Adults


Book Description

In the last decade, a dramatic increase in overweight individuals and obesity has been reported in both developed and underdeveloped countries. Noncommunicable diseases, as well as type 2 diabetes and obesity are one of the most common causes of long-term disability, especially cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is still the leading cause of death in the industrialised world. Accumulating evidence over the last 50 years indicates that exercise may postpone or counteract, at least partially, the debilitating consequences of CVD and prevent complications provoked by the inactive state. Today, we can conclude that lack of physical activity or lack of a physically active lifestyle is clearly an overall high health risk. Societal indicators of reductions in human energy expenditure and increases in sedentary behavior during the past several decades are particularly striking. By the year 2000, the human race reached a sort of historical landmark; for the first time in human evolution, the number of adults with excess weight surpassed the number of those who were underweight. Excess adiposity/body weight is now widely recognised as one of today's leading health threats. Although obesity during childhood is indicated as a complex disorder, the prevalence of overweight and obese children is continually growing globally. This has become a concern to public health, as overweight and obesity during childhood tracks into adulthood and is associated with short- and long-term adverse health outcomes. A number of research articles in this monograph provide interesting and innovating practical suggestions, applications, and directions for some future research. The researched phenomena include: the first physical movements of life recognised as fetal movements and a mother's physiological states; potential differences in cardiovascular fitness between schoolchildren from urban and rural areas, with respect to their age and gender; evidence for the 5-year regular sport exercise effect of on muscle contractile properties in children; trend changes of physical abilities of school children; the effects of linear and change-of-direction speed training methods on the sprint performance of young adults; the relationship between sports experience and performance scores on a health-related physical fitness test among female university freshmen; the application of sports activities that improve the level of upper extremity motor abilities in people with spinal cord injuries; theoretical frameworks supporting learning-inclusive environment details; basic approaches for the inclusion of people with disabilities in community recreation programs; the relation between health and fitness characteristics by Special Olympic athletes competing as cross-country skiers; the relations between physical activity and/or physical exercise and body composition characteristics in the working-age population of both genders; evidence- based information about the effects of sedentary behavior on physiological function in humans; new facts resulting from numerous clinical and epidemiological studies about the effects of physical activity, and reducing the risk of breast and prostate cancer; and information about the connection between physical activity and cognition across the human life span. Finally, the last chapter examines the opinion of the elderly about the impact of physical activity in some segments concerning the quality of life of people living in the Third Age.




Active Start


Book Description

"Active start: a statement of physical activity guidelines for children from birth to five years"--Title from cover.




Fitness for Life


Book Description

Grade level: 6, 7, 8, 9, e, i, s, t.




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