This study sought to determine the reliability and validity of the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) in elementary school children. The sample consisted of 564 3rd grade students (M age = 8.72 ± .54; 268 male, 296 female) surveyed at the beginning of the fall semester. Results indicated that the PACES displayed good internal consistency and item-total correlations. Confirmatory factor analyses supported a unidimensional factor structure. Scores on the PACES were significantly correlated with task goal orientation (r = .65, p < .01), athletic competence (r = .23, p < .01), physical appearance (r = .20, p < .01), and self-reported physical activity (r = .16, p < .01). However, results of invariance analysis suggested the factor structure is variant across sex. The present findings suggest support for the validity of the PACES as a valid measure of enjoyment of physical activity in children; nevertheless, further research examining the invariance of the factor structure across sex is warranted.
Subjects who attended > or = 40% of the intervention achieved a significant reduction in %BF at a relatively low cost. School-based obesity prevention programs of this type are likely to be a cost-effective use of public funds and warrant careful consideration by policy makers and program planners.
environmental approach to obesity prevention in children: Medical College of Georgia FitKid Project year 1 results. Obes Res. 2005;13: 2153-2161. Objective: To test the hypothesis that third grade children (mean age ϭ 8.7, SD ϭ 0.5) who attended an 8-month after-school program would exhibit favorable changes in body composition, cardiovascular fitness, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol compared with children in control condition. Research Methods and Procedures: Subjects were 61% African-American, 31% white, and 8% other racial background from 18 public schools. Sixty-eight percent were eligible for free or reduced price lunch. Percentage body fat and bone mineral density were assessed by DXA, cardiovascular fitness by heart rate response to a step test, resting blood pressure with a Dinamap, and non-fasting total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol by finger stick. Data pre-and post-intervention were available for 447 children. Children in the nine intervention schools who attended at least 40% of the after-school sessions were compared with control subjects.
Results:Compared with the control subjects and after controlling for race, sex, free/reduced price lunch status, and school-level covariates, youths in the intervention group showed a relative reduction of percentage body fat [Ϫ0.76 (95% confidence interval (CI), Ϫ1.42, Ϫ0.09)], a greater relative gain in bone mineral density [0.008 (95% CI, 0.001, 0.005)], and a greater relative reduction in heart rate response to the step test [Ϫ4.4 (95% CI, Ϫ8.2, 0.6)]. The other outcome variables showed non-significant trends in favor of the intervention subjects.
The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) is a validated self-report measure of physical activity widely used to assess physical activity in children (8-14 years of age). To date, however, the instrument has been validated in largely White Canadian samples. The purpose of the present article is to determine the psychometric properties of the PAQ-C for African American, European American, and Hispanic children. Two studies were conducted in which independent samples were administered the PAQ-C, along with varying indices of cardiovascular fitness, fatness, and psychological measures related to physical activity. Results showed that the reliability and validity of the PAQ-C varied by race and that modifications might be necessary.
With the increased adoption of online education, it has become vital for helping profession educators to consider the use of online education. It is also vital for them to consider technologies that can support effective online education for the profession. This study considers the use of both synchronous and asynchronous technologies in helping profession courses. Results of the causal comparative design suggested that online students who used a combination of technologies had statistically significantly higher levels of social presence than the students who used only asynchronous technologies. No difference in cognitive presence, teacher presence, and perceived learning was found between the two groups.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.