Given the documented decline in levels of physical activity in early adolescence, promoting physical activity in young people is a priority for health promotion. School physical education (PE) is an important existing network in which participation in physical activity beyond school can be promoted to the captive young people. The objective of current article is to present the protocol for a PE teacher-delivered theory-based trial to promote secondary school students’ participation in physical activity out-of-school contexts. The intervention will be guided by the trans-contextual model explaining the processes by which PE teachers’ support for autonomous motivation in the classroom promotes students’ motivation to engage in out-of-school physical activity. We hypothesize that school students receiving the teacher-delivered intervention to promote autonomous motivation toward physical activity will exhibit greater participation in physical activities outside of school, relative to students receiving a control intervention. The trial will adopt a waitlist-control design with cluster-randomization by school. PE teachers assigned to the intervention condition will receive a two-week, 12-h training program comprising basic information on how to promote out-of-school physical activity and theory-based training on strategies to promote students’ autonomous motivation toward physical activity. Teachers assigned to the waitlist control condition will receive an alternative training on how to monitor physical functional capacity in children with special needs. PE teachers (n = 29) from eleven schools will apply the intervention program to students (n = 502) in PE classes for one month. Physical activity participation, the primary outcome variable, and psychological mediators from the trans-contextual model will be measured at pre-trial, post-trial, and at one-, three- and six-months post-trial. We will also assess teachers’ autonomy-supportive techniques and behaviours by observation. The study will make a unique contribution to the literature by testing a theory-based intervention delivered by PE teachers to promote school students’ participation in out-of-school physical activity. Information will be useful for educators, community stakeholders and policy makers interested in developing programs to promote students’ out-of-school physical activity. ISRCTN39374060 . Registered 19.7.2018.

The present study aimed at examining differences in motor competence (MC) in children aged 6 to 9 years old in northern, central, and southern European regions using the Körperkoordinationstest für Kinder (KTK). The secondary aim of the study was to examine interactions between region and children’s age, sex and weight status (determined as healthy weight or overweight/obese). Data was pooled from independent studies conducted in Finland (mean age 7.81 ± 1.19 years, n = 690), Belgium (mean age 8.25 ± 1.09 years, n = 1,896) and Portugal (mean age 8.31 ± 1.02 years, n = 758) between 2008 and 2016. Cross‐cultural differences in MC and interaction effects were tested using ANOVAs and ANCOVAs. Age, sex and BMI percentile were used as covariates. Geographical region significantly explained 19% of the variance in MC, while BMI (5%), sex (3%) and age (0.3%) were significant covariates. The interaction effect of region and age (5%), region and sex (0.6%) and region and BMI (0.2%) on MC was also significant. Cross‐cultural differences in children’s MC seem to increase substantially across 6 to 9 years, independent of the prevalence of overweight or obesity. Girls slightly underperformed in MC compared to boys in regions where the overall level of MC was lower. On the other hand, the association between body weight status and MC seems relatively consistent across the cultures. Future cross‐cultural studies should further explore the influence of individual (e.g. physical activity) and environmental (e.g. physical activity and sport policy) factors on MC development.

Little is known of how to involve families in physical activity (PA) interventions for children. In this cluster randomized controlled trial, we recruited families with four- to seven-year-old children to participate in a year-long study where parents in the intervention group families (n = 46) received tailored counseling to increase children’s PA. Structured PA was not served. Control group families (n = 45) did not receive any counseling. PA in all children (n = 91; mean age 6.16 ± 1.13 years at the baseline) was measured by accelerometers at the baseline and after three, six, nine and 12 months. Motor competence (MC) (n = 89) was measured at the baseline and after six and 12 months by a KTK (KörperkoordinationsTest für Kinder) and throwing and catching a ball (TCB) protocols. The effect of parental counseling on study outcomes was analyzed by a linear mixed-effects model fit by REML and by a Mann-Whitney U test in the case of the TCB. As season was hypothesized to affect counseling effect, an interaction of season on the study outcomes was examined. The results show significant decrease of MVPA in the intervention group when compared to the control group (p < .05). The TCB showed a nearly significant improvement at six months in the intervention group compared to the controls (p = .051), but not at 12 months. The intervention group had a steadier development of the KTK when the interaction of season was taken into account. In conclusion, more knowledge of family constructs associating with the effectiveness of counseling is needed for understanding how to enhance PA in children by parents. However, a hypothesis may be put forward that family-based counseling during an inactive season rather than an active season may provide a more lasting effect on the development of KTK in children. Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN28668090

We examined the relationship between physical activity parenting (PAP) and child, family, and environmental factors in families. The participants were 840 families with young children (n = 993; 5.40 ± 1.14 years) and parents (n = 993; 35.8 ± 5.29 years). Parents' self‐reported PAP (co‐participation, (in)direct support, and encouragement), child‐specific (sex, age, temperament, outdoor time, organized physical activity or sports, sedentary time, media time, PA enjoyment, motor skills compared to peers, PA, and sport facility use), family‐specific (respondent's sex, age, education, exercise frequency, family income, family status, number of children in the family, child's birth order and partner's PAP, and exercise frequency), and environment‐specific (residential density, access to sport and outdoor facilities, type of house, and access to electronic devices) factors were collected. Children's motor skills and anthropometrics were measured. After adjusting for the family cluster effect, child, family, and environmental factors were entered into a linear mixed‐effects model, with PAP as the response variable. The final model consisted of statistically significant factors, and parental education, which was forced into the model. Nine child‐ and family‐related factors explained 15% of parenting variance between the children and 52% between the families. Partner's PAP (B = 0.68, P < 0.001) had the strongest association, whereas the child's temperament (B = 0.08, P < 0.001) and birth order (B = −0.10, P < 0.001) had smaller but novel associations with the respondent's PAP. Partner's PAP and a range of child‐ and family‐related factors should be considered when promoting parental support for child PA.

The study aims were to (1) identify perceived motor competence (PMC) and actual motor competence (AMC) profiles in children at two time points (early and middle childhood) 3 years apart, (2) explore transitions between the profiles from T1 to T2, and (3) investigate how PMC‐AMC profiles at T1 differ in their mean values for AMC and PMC variables at T2. PMC was assessed by the pictorial scale of Perceived Movement Skill Competence for young children (PMSC). At T1, AMC was measured with Test of Gross Motor Development–third version (TGMD‐3), and at T2, a shortened TGMD‐3 was used. To identify the PMC‐AMC profiles using latent profile analysis, the Mplus statistical package (version 8.7) was used. For aim 3, the Bolck‐Croon‐Hagenaars (BCH) method was used. There were 480 children (mean age 6.26 years, 51.9% boys) at T1, 647 children (mean age 8.76 years, 48.8% boys) at T2 (some children were too young to have the PMC assessment at T1), and 292 at both time points. For aim 1, three profiles were identified at each time point for each gender. Boys had two realistic profiles with medium and low levels of PMC‐AMC, and an overestimation profile. Girls had a medium realistic profile, an overestimation, and an underestimation profile. The PMC‐AMC profile in early childhood predicted the PMC‐AMC profile (aim 2) and AMC and PMC variables (aim 3) in middle childhood, especially if a child had low PMC in early childhood. Children with low PMC in early childhood are at risk of low PMC and less AMC development in middle childhood.