The purposes of the study were: (1) to investigate the associations between fundamental motor skills (FMS), health-related fitness (HRF) and physical activity (PA) during middle childhood; and (2) to examine whether HRF serves as a mediator in these pathways. The participants were 342 children (156 girls; Mage = 8.40, SD = 0.50) recruited in Texas. Children’s FMS (locomotor and ball skills) were assessed. School-based PA that included light, moderate, and vigorous PA was captured by accelerometers. The FITNESSGRAM battery was used to measure children’s HRF, including body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, and muscular fitness. Structural equation models were used to evaluate two proposed models (model-1 = FMS»HRF»PA; model-2 = PA»HRF»FMS). Both locomotor and ball skills were associated with all components of HRF (p < 0.01), but not PA. The SEM analyses supported associations between FMS, HRF and PA, with sound goodness-of-fit indices: (1) model-1: CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.072; and (2) model-2: CFI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.071, respectively. The relationship between FMS and PA was fully mediated by the HRF in both directions. The behavioral mechanism (e.g., maintaining appropriate levels of HRF) provides meaningful insights to understand the obesity trajectory during middle childhood.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between school-based sedentary behavior, physical activity, and health-related outcomes, including cardiorespiratory fitness, weight status, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among Hispanic children. The participants were 374 children (192 boys, 182 girls; M_age = 9.64) recruited from four elementary schools from 3rd grade through to 5th grade. Sedentary behavior and physical activity behaviors (light physical activity [LPA] and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA)) during school were measured by accelerometers. Cardiorespiratory fitness and weight status were measured using the FITNESSGRAM^®, while HRQOL was measured using the PedsQL 4.0^TM Spanish version, a validated questionnaire. Sedentary behavior was negatively correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness and HRQOL but positively associated with weight status. MVPA was positively correlated with cardiorespiratory fitness and HRQOL, but negatively associated with weight status and sedentary behavior. Multiple regressions demonstrated that sedentary behavior significantly predicted cardiorespiratory fitness and weight status, whereas MVPA significantly predicted HRQOL. With the current public health priority aiming to reduce health disparities in minority populations, the findings of this study provide important insights. Educators, health care providers, or other professionals working with Hispanic children are encouraged to focus on reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity to improve their health-related outcomes.

Falls among older adults are a major public health concern because they have a high incidence and impose substantial personal and societal burdens ( Marks & Allegrante, 2004 Marks, R. and Allegrante, J. P. 2004. Falls-prevention programs for older ambulatory community dwellers: From public health research to health promotion policy. Social and Preventive Medicine, 49: 171–178. [Google Scholar] ). Physical, emotional, social, environmental, and financial costs of fall-related injuries can be devastating. The direct annual financial cost in the United States for treating fall-related injuries is more than $20 billion annually ( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008, March 6). Preventing falls among older adults http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/duip/preventadultfalls.htm (Accessed: 3 April 2008). [Google Scholar] ). Research has focused on factors that hinder healthy aging among community-dwelling older adults. However, scarce literature exists on factors that facilitate education- and prevention-related activities focused on falls. This article makes a case for comprehensive activity programs that include fall-prevention workshops for older adults. Further, this article presents a literature review on the causes of falling and its impact on older adults. A holistic approach to developing fall-prevention programs and a strong commitment to promoting and implementing such programs will be discussed. A summary of evidence-based fall-prevention programs will be shared. Recommendations for planning and achieving fall-prevention program objectives will be offered to aid activity professionals as they create and implement successful programs to support health and well-being among community-dwelling older adults.

“The whole day movement matters to health.” has become an important topic while the associations between executive function and different movement behaviors (i.e., physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep) are traditionally examined in isolation. This study aimed to examine the combined associations of movement behaviors (i.e., moderate-to-vigorous PA [MVPA], light PA, screen-based SB, non-screen-based SB, and sleep) with executive function (i.e., working memory, inhibition, and overall executive function) among college students. A total of 366 college students (60.1% female; mean age = 22.59 ± 3.54) were recruited. Validated questionnaires were used to assess light PA, MVPA, screen-based and non-screen-based SB, sleep, and executive function. All the movement behaviors including screen-based SB (β = 0.13), sleep (β = −0.12), and MVPA (β = −0.16) were significant predictors on working memory (R² = 0.09). Only BMI (β = 0.14) was found to be a significant contributor to inhibition (R² = 0.05). The overweight/obese group had significantly higher scores (meaning lower functioning) in inhibition compared to peers with healthy weights (d = 0.24). These findings suggest healthy movement behaviors (i.e., engage in MVPA, reduce screen-based SB, sufficient sleep) and weight management are beneficial for executive function during young adulthood.

Residents’ activity is a strong contributor to the quality of life in long-term care facilities. Hence, activity professionals have an essential role to play in enhancing residents’ activity engagement. Professional practice model for activity professionals includes Assessment, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation (APIE model). Although activity professionals have made advances in demonstrating their value, few studies have focused on the APIE model for activity professionals in long-term care facilities. A survey was conducted to help understand the role of activity professionals in using APIE in long-term care. Questionnaires were completed by 195 activity professionals working as activity directors and activity staff in long-term care settings. The major factors studied were job background, certification, and the performance of activity professionals using the APIE model. Findings showed that 11.8% of the activity professionals had a high school education, 12.3% had no certification, and 9.2% of them had unrelated certifications. When examining the APIE model, we found that activity professionals used person-centered approaches when they assessed residents` needs and wants, planned and implemented the activities, but lacked evaluation when measuring the outcomes; 79.5% of the participants were not tracking the number of minutes residents spent on activities; and 72.8% of the respondents did not measure the impact of resident engagement on clinical outcomes such as falls, depression, cognition, and medication use. Lack of professional training and the application meaningful evaluation related to the impact of activities with residents by activity professionals may challenge administrators’ capacity of estimating the need, value, and role of activity professionals within long-term care facilities. The study advocates for applying the APIE process to the delivery of activities and evaluation of the benefits of residents` activity and engagement.