Student Knowledge of Health and Fitness Concepts and its Relation to Locus of Control

Fitness knowledge, cardiorespiratory endurance and body composition of high school students

“…Although this is not the first study to examine health-related fitness knowledge it is the first to compare knowledge to two specific fitness outcomes. The average health-related fitness exam score among males and females (44.6%) were a failing grade; however, the scores were comparable to other health-related fitness knowledge acquisition studies [10,12,15,22,24] despite the methodological differences (different health-related fitness exams) between the studies. These failing scores can be attributed to the lack of health-related fitness content covered in class, teacher variables (i.e.…”

“…The attainment of health-related fitness knowledge is positively related to PA participation [12,25]. Due to this relationship the mastery of healthrelated fitness concepts has emerged as an important area that needs to improve among adolescents [15,19,22]. The lack of health-related fitness knowledge has been linked as a factor to obesity among middle school youth [28].…”

Young people’s knowledge and understanding of health, fitness and physical activity: issues, divides and dilemmas

“…Harris' research in the UK, also in the early 1990s, revealed that young people's understanding of health, fitness and physical activity was limited, associating health and fitness, for example, with being thin and being good at sport; she also found that young people's knowledge was largely unrelated to the way in which they lived their lives (Harris, 1993(Harris, , 1994. Around the same time, Merkle and Treagust (1993) reported on a study of Australian students' knowledge of health and fitness which similarly revealed limited conceptions such as students mostly relating fitness to big muscles, running without breathlessness, and not being overweight. Merkle and Treagust (1993) also found that, despite many students being aware that they should eat healthily and exercise, they did not necessarily eat the 'right food ' (p.357) or participate in regular physical activity; they also reported that students with naive conceptions about health and fitness components believed in chance for their personal health.…”

“…Around the same time, Merkle and Treagust (1993) reported on a study of Australian students' knowledge of health and fitness which similarly revealed limited conceptions such as students mostly relating fitness to big muscles, running without breathlessness, and not being overweight. Merkle and Treagust (1993) also found that, despite many students being aware that they should eat healthily and exercise, they did not necessarily eat the 'right food ' (p.357) or participate in regular physical activity; they also reported that students with naive conceptions about health and fitness components believed in chance for their personal health.…”

“…Indeed, despite the promotion of active lifestyles being a central aim of PE curricula for many years now, there is little evidence that it has significantly impacted on young people's physical activity knowledge and behaviour. Young people have been found to have misconceptions and misunderstandings about health, physical activity and fitness since the early 1990s (Brusseau et al, 2011;Burrows & Wright, 2004;Burrows et al, 2002Burrows et al, , 2009Desmond et al, 1990;Dixey et al, 2001;Harris, 1993Harris, , 1994Keating et al, 2009;Kulinna, 2004;Lee & Macdonald, 2009Merkle & Treagust, 1993;O'Shea & Beausoleil, 2012;Placek et al, 2001;Powell & Fitzpatrick, 2015;Stewart & Mitchell, 2003) and Government inspectors of schools in England identified weaknesses in pupils' knowledge and understanding of health and fitness over a decade ago (Office for Standards in Education, 2005). Further, in England, only 10% of 12-15 year olds were found to be familiar with physical activity recommendations for their age (Roth & Stamatakis, 2010) and only 16% of girls and 21% boys aged 5-15 years achieve recommended levels of physical activity of at least one hour of moderately intense activity per day (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2015).…”