Browse

Perceptions of physical competence and intrinsic joy have been identified as 2 of the primary correlates and even predictors of physical activity and sedentary behavior for individuals of all ages. Developmental theories of competence motivation suggest that such self-perceptions may have their origins in the early childhood years and are formed on the basis of a whole range of social and environmental factors. However, it is likely that the primary influence during this early time period may be the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors of significant adults with whom the child interacts. This paper identifies and discusses 3 ways in which important adults can exert an influence on young children’s perceptions of competence and intrinsic joy and, correspondingly, on their levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior. The paper ends with some recommendations for future research.

Movement is how we explore our environment—an array of motor behaviors and a degree of skillfulness are required for individuals to move, function, and survive. Metaphorically speaking, Janus, the ancient Roman god, has two faces, one facing into the past and one to the future. Before engaging in future scientific endeavors, researchers should reflect on the historical work in their field to help shape future inquiry. As we continue into the 21st century, motor development research must continue its commitment to conduct translational research in practice while engaging in impactful interdisciplinary research. Areas that warrant future exploration include (a) addressing the motoric needs of special populations; (b) understanding what occurs in the brain during movement—brain–behavior interaction; (c) discovering how our environment affects motor behaviors—gene–environment interaction; (d) exploring the effect of movement across the life span and on various aspects of health—developmental health outcomes; and (e) being cognizant of research design and measurements. Many questions remain to be answered, but motor development is a field with a bright future that awaits discovery.

This paper summarizes a keynote presentation the author gave in 2017 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) focused on the decade of research in motor development between 2007 and 2017. It was organized around an agenda for the future proposed by Thelen in the year 2000, which included 6 themes: multimodal perception and action, formal models and robotics, embodied cognition, neural bases of motor skill development, learning and plasticity, and cultural and individual differences. The author also covers an impactful area of research on the links between motor competence and physical activity and health-related fitness. Important discoveries between 2007 and 2017 have reinforced the idea that motor development makes a fundamental contribution to virtually every domain of development.

There is interest in promoting greater inclusion and participation among international fellows in the National Academy of Kinesiology. There are challenges, however, including understanding the implications of such efforts and considering what the role of a national academy might be in the international community. This essay and the accompanying one by Mark Dyreson, the historian of the National Academy of Kinesiology, attempt to shed light on these issues. In complementary ways, the essays review the ideas and aspirations expressed by the academy’s founders, as well as those who influenced them, the (honorary) fellows in memoriam. Also embedded in this essay is a chronological listing of the international fellows who have delivered the C. Lynn Vendien International Lecture. This list had not previously existed in a single document.

At the heart of contemporary kinesiology resides a long history of promoting “physical culture” as a homogenizing and unifying force, linking all of humanity together with a common bond. We routinely prescribe the universal power of physical activity to improve health and well-being across social boundaries and beyond national boundaries. We frame problems and offer solutions that seem to affect all people, in all places, at all times. At the same time, multicultural issues, understood in a broad sense, have captivated students of human movement and shaped the development of the field. The field itself emerged from multiple cultures—academic, intellectual, vocational, and national. The dialectics of culture and the clash of universal and plural perspectives have played an important role in the quest to define the meaning of human movement. Embracing rather than resolving these tensions offers the best strategy for charting creative current and future directions for research and policy in kinesiology.

Online and blended instruction have emerged as popular teaching methods in the K–12 environment. The asynchronous characteristics of these methods represent potential for improved learning opportunities in physical education. Therefore, the purpose of this scoping review was to provide a comprehensive overview of research, commentary, and practical articles related to the use of these methods in K–12 physical education. Method: PRISMA-ScR guidelines directed this review, and 5 databases were searched for English-language articles. Results: Twenty-four articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Of these, 14 were research-based and 10 were commentary or practical articles. Most related research has been conducted in secondary-school environments. Minimal learning-related outcomes were reported across studies. Evidence provided in commentary and practical articles is largely anecdotal and based on research from other subject areas. Conclusions: Systematic research related to the design, adoption, and implementation of online and blended instruction in physical education is warranted.

The role and rights of international fellows in the National Academy of Kinesiology (NAK) have generated much current debate. As NAK works to define its mission and membership in the 21st century, to adjust its traditions and constitution to new realities that make global interchanges far more convenient than they were in 1926 when the society began, many of the members struggle with balancing the rewards of change against the recompenses of continuity. In this context, NAK President Bradley Cardinal approached me to collaborate with him in exploring how the history of NAK might shed light on our current debates. What our history reveals is that the academy has always struggled to be national institution that lives in an international world. Whether we should move in a different direction remains in the hands of the members.

Given profound physical, psychosocial, and environmental barriers to physical activity (PA), people living with spinal cord injury (SCI) are less active than virtually every other segment of the population. Nevertheless, people with SCI are not universally “sedentary.” Many people with SCI live physically active lives, and behavioral interventions have proven effective at increasing and maintaining both PA and fitness. This paper discusses PA and inactivity in the SCI population and reviews the who, what, and how of effective SCI PA-enhancing interventions. The authors conclude with 3 recommendations for increasing PA in other low-active populations: Know your audience and the issues, develop audience-specific messages and tailored interventions, and use behavior-change theory to develop messages and interventions.

The number and scope of established health-related benefits from physical activity continue to expand. Notable recent additions include improved weight status and bone health in children 3–5 years of age, prevention of excessive weight gain among adults, reduced risk of dementia, and improved cognition and a variety of other brain-health benefits. Greater flexibility in receiving health benefits is also apparent. No threshold of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) must be exceeded for benefits to accrue; small increments by individuals performing little to no MVPA produce larger reductions in risk than similarly sized increments in individuals already performing greater amounts of MVPA, bouts of MVPA <10 min in duration contribute to the accumulation of MVPA, and light-intensity physical activity can benefit individuals currently doing little or no MVPA. MVPA is indirectly related to the adverse effects of sedentary behavior. The definition of physical activity continues to be debated.