Physical education (PE) develops students' motor skills, knowledge, and behaviors for active living. As such, individuals need to participate in various physical activities (PA) which contribute to a healthy lifestyle. But many PE programs fail to bring the actual value of a lifetime PA and fitness. Therefore, there should be extended scientific…

Background: Appalachian adolescents are at an increased risk for sedentary behavior; little research has addressed this concern. Purpose: This study examined adolescents' expectations for engaging in physical activity (PA), chiefly expectations for relaxation and fitness. Independent variables were self-efficacy expectations (SEEs) to overcome…

The purpose of this investigation was to examine overweight students' perceptions of and experiences in physical education. Specifically, the applicability of learned helplessness as a framework to understand their experiences was explored. Participants were seven female and five male high school students whose body mass index was at or higher…

A major goal for most quality physical education programs is to provide sufficient education and motivation for students to choose to live physically active lifestyles. This article clarifies what a "physically active lifestyle" really means both now to school-aged students, and in the future, as these students become adults.…

Overweight children would not be the first thing a visitor to Grafton, West Virginia, would think of when seeing the small farms that cling to steep hillsides and cultivate the bottomland along the Tygart River as one drives into town. Like most of the state, the landscape around this village nods to pastoral enterprise, suggesting a place where…

Purpose: Domain and sub-domain physical self-perceptions have been associated with adolescent moderate intensity physical activity although the association with different types of adolescent moderate intensity physical activity remains unclear. This study seeks to examine the relationship between personal self-perceptions and adolescent…

The physical education curriculum in the state of South Carolina is representative of a trend towards increasing instruction in health-related fitness concepts. In 1994 the South Carolina state legislature mandated that the required physical education course in high school include one semester of lifetime fitness and one semester of personal…