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…

A final report is given of an assessment and comparison series which evaluated the national fitness and sport promotion systems in the United States, Australia, and Canada. The framework of the three country-specific assessments treated national level policies and programs first, followed by state or provincial activities. At each stage, physical…

The current state of physical fitness in American youth is unknown. While evidence exists that obesity levels are increasing in children and youth, data on declines in physical fitness measures (i.e., cardiorespiratory and musculoskeletal fitness) are lacking. Tracking of physical fitness components has been poorly done. Surveillance of behaviors…

This article features the standards and practice for K-12 physical education in Japan. Physical education in Japan has many similarities to, and differences with, programs in the United States. Many of the main objectives for the school curriculum are the same; both systems promote major outcomes related to fitness and lifelong sport and physical…

Provides information on the topics of: (1) physical education and fitness programs in the schools; (2) vital statistics on live births, marriage, divorce, and death rates in the United States; (3) AIDS in children; (4) American family trends; (5) maternal and child health care in Europe and United States; (6) early childhood prevention programs.…

To date, studies examining the Sport Education (SE) model have largely focused on gains in sporting performance and/or psychosocial development. The purpose of this study was to compare the health-related fitness benefits for pupils participating in SE and traditional multi-activity (MA) units of instruction. Participants were two preservice…

This study examined the efficacy of a school-based exercise and nutrition program with a parent component. Third-grade children (N = 238) from six elementary schools participated in the study, with three schools randomly assigned to a program group and the other three schools to a control group. The program group received a health-related fitness…

A traditional part of American education has been to include the families in the educational process of their children. The needs and complexities of today's families and classrooms have never been greater. Programs and activities used with families, and school interactions 10 to 15 years ago are not effective for today's complex families and…

In 1975 the first women ROTC cadets attended advanced camp at Fort Bragg, N.C. During the six-week summer camp, 392 male and 83 female cadets (about to enter their senior year in college) were rated on leadership by their platoon NCO and on leadership and personal characteristics by their platoon officer evaluator. Cadets were also rated by their…

THIS VOLUME IS PLANNED AS THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF SOURCE BOOKS FOR LEGISLATORS, ADMINISTRATORS, STUDENTS, AND RESEARCHERS, SUMMARIZING INFORMATION ON CURRENT AND RECENT LITERATURE, AS WELL AS ON ACTION PROJECTS RELEVANT TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE, DIMENSIONS, AND DISTRIBUTION OF POVERTY IN CANADA. PART 1 IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY UNDER…

Information related to selecting, training, and certifying outdoor leaders for high adventure pursuits, is provided by selected experts from five English-speaking nations (Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States). Patterns of differences and similarities among these nations regarding outdoor leadership components and…