Background: Youth with obesity are likely to experience weight-based bullying victimization, and adolescents have the highest obesity rates among children. Factors that protect youth from traditional bullying victimization may protect youth from weight-based bullying victimization: internal assets such as positive identity and social competence,…

Background: The purpose of the study was to examine the associations among cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), weight status and academic achievement in youth, and to determine if these relationships are moderated by poverty status. Methods: The sample included 5th (N = 27,791) and 8th grade (N = 16,047) South Carolina students. Academic achievement…

The present study investigates the effect of obesity and overweight on children's cognitive abilities and well-being using survey data from West Bank schools. The results show the significant adverse impact of obesity on a child's well-being by raising externalizing (behavioral) problems and increasing the probability of classifying a child with…

In the process of educating physically literate individuals, physical educators are tasked with assessing health-related fitness of their students. It is essential to identify or develop appropriate field tests of muscular power for use in physical education settings. This study assessed jumping power in a sample of fourth, sixth, and eighth…

Interpreting change in Body mass index (BMI) among youth by comparison to growth charts can be difficult because of maturation-related changes. The aim of this paper was to evaluate the utility of several alternative methods for assessing change in BMI among children. Participants included 1,615 children measured for stature and body mass in first…

Purpose: Physical education (PE) is an important context for promoting health-related cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in youth. Within PE, the lesson context and teacher behavior may be relevant for the promotion CRF; however, evidence is scarce. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess whether students' CRF improvement in a school year…

This research was conducted to determine whether there are differences between the norm values used in the evaluation of children who train in different sports and physical education lessons according to the chronological age and biological age of the children. The research group consists of a total of 239 male students of 13 (n=116) and 14…

Background: The accuracy of students' heights and weights measured by school staff for body mass index (BMI) screening/reporting has not been established. This study examined school staffs' measurement accuracy, comparing accuracy by staff- and student-level characteristics. Methods: School staff and researchers measured the height and weight of…

Purpose: This study examined the prevalence of different weight status and the relationships between weight status and physical fitness among Chinese children and youth. Methods: Participants were 107,206 Grade 4 children and 70,213 Grade 8 youth from the China National Assessment of Educational Quality -- Physical Education & Health in 2015…

Guided by the biopsychosocial model, we examined (a) the prevalence of weight control behaviors (WCBs; i.e., trying to stay the same weight, lose weight, gain weight, or do nothing about weight) among early adolescent boys by race/ethnicity and grade level, and (b) how the boys' perceptions of sociocultural pressures (from parents, peers, and…

Background: Many studies document associations between low health literacy (HL) and poor health behaviors and outcomes. Yet, HL is understudied among adolescents, particularly from underserved, rural communities. We targeted rural adolescents in this cross-sectional study and explored relationships between HL and (1) energy-balance-related health…

This study was planned in order to analyze adolescent body image by age and gender, evaluate the relationship between adolescent body image and socio-cultural factors, and determine the extent to which variables such as age, gender, and Body Mass Index (BMI) can serve as predictors of the influential habits and strategies needed to achieve a…

Background: We examined prevalence, incidence, and trajectory of obesity from kindergarten through grade 8 in one of the first states to implement annual surveillance. Methods: Participants included 16,414 children enrolled in kindergarten in Arkansas in 2004 with complete body mass index (BMI) measurements in kindergarten and eighth grade.…

This study examined the association between having been bullied at school during the past 6 months ("bullied status") and not meeting physical activity (PA) recommendations of 60 minutes of daily PA during the past week among 8th- and 11th-grade Texas adolescents. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine this…

Background: To examine whether differences in participation in active play (PAP) can account for gender differences in the relationship between Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and body weight/fat (BMI and percentage fat) in youth. Methods: A cross-sectional investigation of students in grades four through eight (n = 590). Height, weight…