Expert’s Choice: 2018’s Most Exciting Research in the Field of Pediatric Exercise Science

Eliakim, Alon; Falk, Bareket; Armstrong, Neil; Baptista, Fátima; Behm, David G.; Dror, Nitzan; Faigenbaum, Avery D.; Janz, Kathleen F.; Jürimäe, Jaak; McGowan, Amanda L.; Nemet, Damir; Pianosi, Paolo; Pontifex, Matthew B.; Radom‐Aizik, Shlomit; Rowland, Thomas W.; Rowlands, Alex V.

doi:10.1123/pes.2019-0010

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 157 publications

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“…The present study, however, did reveal the independent, interactive effects of age, maturity and sex on strength, highlighting the need to account for these parameters when investigating the influence of stimuli such as growth, maturation and/or training. Moreover, given the considerable male bias in the paediatric exercise physiology literature [15], and especially within strength and conditioning-related research [45], the current findings highlight that many of these findings are unlikely to be applicable to girls at comparable ages and maturity stages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Investigating the Modulatory Role of Chronological and Biological Age on Performance Predictors in Youth Swimmers

McNarry

Lester

Brown

et al. 2020

J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE

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Purpose The aim of this study was to determine the modulatory roles of biological maturity and age on the predictors of performance in youth swimmers and their stability over a six-month training cycle. Methods In total, 28 swimmers (10 pre-pubertal [6 boys], 11.1 ± 1.8 years; 18 pubertal [8 boys], 15.2 ± 2.0 years old) and 26 untrained controls (15 pre-pubertal [10 boys], 9.7 ± 1.5 years; 11 pubertal [6 boys], 14.4 ± 0.5 years old) were recruited. At baseline, 3- and 6-months, participants completed an incremental ramp cycle test, isometric handgrip strength test and countermovement jumps, with speed assessed as a measure of performance in swimmers. Principle component analysis (PCA) identified factors that described youth swimmers’ physical profile, with linear mixed models subsequently used to determine their interaction with age and maturity on performance. Results Aerobic fitness and upper body strength were significantly higher in the trained participants, irrespective of maturity status or time-point. Four key factors were identified through PCA (anthropometrics; strength; aerobic capacity; aerobic rate), accounting for 90% of the between parameter variance. Age exerted a widespread influence on swimming performance predictors, influencing all four factors, whilst maturity only influenced the aerobic factors. The key age of divergence was 13 years. Conclusion Overall, the present study found no evidence of a maturational threshold in the aerobic or strength-related response to training in youth. The influence of age on performance predictors suggests that utilising a single or select group of parameters to inform selection and/or talent identification throughout the dynamic processes of growth and maturation should be avoided.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Investigating the Modulatory Role of Chronological and Biological Age on Performance Predictors in Youth Swimmers

McNarry

Lester

Brown

et al. 2020

J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE

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“…Children are more likely to associate AVG and exercise with fun and engaging gaming experiences. AVGs have been demonstrated to motivate children to engage in moderate-to-vigorous PA ( Hwang et al, 2019 ; Williams and Ayres, 2020 ). Previous systematic reviews have found that AVG use significantly increases duration of vigorous PA among children ( Lu et al, 2013 ; Gao and Chen, 2014 ) and AVGs have a small to medium effect of on BMI reduction ( van‘t Riet et al, 2016 ).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Type of Body Shape Moves Children? An Experimental Exploration of the Impact of Narrative Cartoon Character Body Shape on Children’s Narrative Engagement, Wishful Identification, and Exercise Motivation

Alon

Sousa²,

Lu³

2021

Front. Psychol.

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BackgroundThe incorporation of narratives helps to enhance children’s engagement in active video games (AVGs), thus increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Specific narrative elements, such as the visual representation of the characters’ body shape, have been rarely manipulated to explore their role in modulating children’s narrative engagement (NE) and exercise motivation.ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of character body shape manipulation (overweight/obese, average, or athletic slim) on children’s narrative immersion (NI), NE, wishful identification (WI), as well as their mediating effect on AVG and PA motivation.MethodsChildren ages 8–12 years old (N = 87) were randomly assigned to watch a 15-min animated video (designed for an existing AVG) in which the main characters had an overweight/obese, or average∗, or athletic slim body shape (all other elements were identical). Children’s NI, NE, WI, and AVG and physical activity (PA) motivation were then assessed.ResultsControlling for social desirability, the analysis indicated that participants with a BMI of greater than the 75th percentile had a significantly higher NI, NE, WI, and PA motivation when video characters were set to the overweight/obese condition, than they did for video characters set to the average or athletic slim conditions. On the other hand, children of equal or less than the 75th percentile exposed to the average character body condition had a greater NE, WI, and PA motivation than overweight/obese or athletic slim conditions. A mediation analysis with structural equation modeling indicated that NE mediated the effect between character body shape and AVG and PA motivation.ConclusionNarrative cartoon characters that mirror the target participant’s body shape can increase NE, which in turn mediates AVG and PA motivation. Content producers should identify optimal strategies in character body shape design to encourage children of different weight status to participate in PA with engaging stories to maximize health narratives’ persuasive potentials.∗The term average in this sense is not in reference to the national average body weight, but rather an average of the body weights represented in conditions A and C.

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“…By contrast, Tomkinson et al (53) have, through the assembly of large international data sets, stimulated a resurgence of interest in field performance tests, in particular the 20-m shuttle run test (20mSRT). Despite a recent meta-analysis revealing that over half of published correlation coefficients between 20mSRT performance scores and children's peakVO 2 explain less than 50% of the variance in peakVO 2 (33), the last 2 years have witnessed a plethora of publications using variants of the 20mSRT to estimate/predict the ratio-scaled peakVO 2 of children and to relate their 20mSRT score to current and future health (2,23).…”

Section: Field Performance Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Youth Aerobic Fitness

Armstrong

2019

Pediatric Exercise Science

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Expert’s Choice: 2018’s Most Exciting Research in the Field of Pediatric Exercise Science

Cited by 12 publications

References 157 publications

Investigating the Modulatory Role of Chronological and Biological Age on Performance Predictors in Youth Swimmers

Investigating the Modulatory Role of Chronological and Biological Age on Performance Predictors in Youth Swimmers

What Type of Body Shape Moves Children? An Experimental Exploration of the Impact of Narrative Cartoon Character Body Shape on Children’s Narrative Engagement, Wishful Identification, and Exercise Motivation

Youth Aerobic Fitness

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