Purpose: There is little known about the state of teacher education programs in this field. The aim of this article is to provide a descriptive analysis of physical education and health education teacher education programs in the United States. Method: Using published curriculums, a census of active undergraduate teacher education programs and a more in-depth analysis of one program from each state based on interviews with program coordinators was conducted. Findings: Data are reported across nine categories: (a) institution and program classifications, (b) degree designations, (c) degree and major’s hours, (d) enrollment, (e) program status and trends, (f) admission and graduation requirements, (g) curricular time, (h) faculty demographics, and (i) health education. Conclusions: The data show that there is a broad interpretation of what counts as physical and health teacher education in terms of curriculum, and there are significant and pressing challenges for the field to address moving forward.
Phillip Ward, Won Seok Chey, Insook Kim, Emi Tsuda, Bomna Ko, Dena Deglau, and Kyuil Cho
Rebecca M. Achen, Ashley Stadler-Blank, and John J. Sailors
The academic literature reports mixed evidence on how social media platform and message impact consumer engagement. We investigated the effects of three platforms (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) and three message themes (sales, informational, and relationship building) on six consumer engagement actions (comment, like, search, share, talk about, and purchase) in a lab experiment. College students responded to social media posts featuring their National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I women’s basketball team. Results for platform show that participants were more likely to comment on Facebook and Twitter (vs. Instagram) and more likely to purchase on Twitter (vs. Instagram). Results for message theme show that participants were more likely to comment, like, and share informational and relationship building posts and more likely to purchase after sales posts. Results for message theme vary by gender for search and talk about (with others). These results can help sport marketers develop social media content that drives specific engagement actions.
Jorge E. Morais, Tiago M. Barbosa, José A. Bragada, Rodrigo Ramirez-Campillo, and Daniel A. Marinho
Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the interaction of kinematic, kinetic, and energetic variables as speed predictors in adolescent swimmers in the front-crawl stroke. Design: Ten boys (mean age [SD] = 16.4 [0.7] y) and 13 girls (mean age [SD] = 14.9 [0.9] y) were assessed. Methods: The swimming performance indicator was a 25-m sprint. A set of kinematic, kinetic (hydrodynamic and propulsion), and energetic variables was established as a key predictor of swimming performance. Multilevel software was used to model the maximum swimming speed. Results: The final model identified time (estimate = −0.008, P = .044), stroke frequency (estimate = 0.718, P < .001), active drag coefficient (estimate = −0.330, P = .004), lactate concentration (estimate = 0.019, P < .001), and critical speed (estimate = −0.150, P = .035) as significant predictors. Therefore, the interaction of kinematic, hydrodynamic, and energetic variables seems to be the main predictor of speed in adolescent swimmers. Conclusions: Coaches and practitioners should be aware that improvements in isolated variables may not translate into faster swimming speed. A multilevel evaluation may be required for a more effective assessment of the prediction of swimming speed based on several key variables rather than a single analysis.
Tao Chen, Sanmei Chen, Takanori Honda, Yu Nofuji, Hiro Kishimoto, and Kenji Narazaki
Background: To examine longitudinal changes in accelerometer-measured moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and associated factors of changes in MVPA among community-dwelling older Japanese men and women over 2 years of follow-up. Methods: In total, 601 participants (72.2 [5.4] y, 40.6% men) were included. MVPA was assessed at baseline (2011) and follow-up (2013) using triaxial accelerometers. Sex-stratified multiple linear regression models were used to identify associated factors of changes in MVPA. Results: On average, a significant decrease in MVPA over 2 years was observed only in women (P < .001). Higher baseline MVPA levels and older age were significantly associated with a decrease in MVPA over 2 years in both men and women. Men who were currently drinking (vs no) and had faster maximum gait speed showed statistically significant increases in MVPA. Women who had very poor/poor economic status (vs fair/good) and were socially isolated (vs no) showed statistically significant increases in MVPA over 2 years, while those who had fear of falling (vs no) and poor/fair self-rated health (vs good/very good) showed statistically significant decreases in MVPA over 2 years. Conclusions: Our findings showed different associated factors of changes in MVPA by sex, suggesting the importance of accounting for sex differences in terms of developing specific intervention strategies for promoting MVPA among older men and women.
Mary Njeri Wanjau, Holger Möller, Fiona Haigh, Andrew Milat, Rema Hayek, Peta Lucas, and J. Lennert Veerman
Objective: The objectives were (1) to establish the strength of the association between incident cases of osteoarthritis (OA) and low back pain (LBP), and physical activity (PA) and to assess the likelihood of the associations being causal; and (2) to quantify the impact of PA on the burden of OA and LBP in Australia. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review in EMBASE and PubMed databases from January 01, 2000, to April 28, 2020. We used the Bradford Hill viewpoints to assess causality. We used a proportional multistate life table model to estimate the impact of changes in the PA levels on OA and LBP burdens for the 2019 Australian population (aged ≥ 20 y) over their remaining lifetime. Results: We found that both OA and LBP are possibly causally related to physical inactivity. Assuming causality, our model projected that if the 2025 World Health Organization global target for PA was met, the burden in 25 years’ time could be reduced by 70,000 prevalent cases of OA and over 11,000 cases of LBP. Over the lifetime of the current adult population of Australia, the gains could add up to approximately 672,814 health-adjusted life years (HALYs) for OA (ie, 27 HALYs per 1000 persons) and 114,042 HALYs for LBP (ie, 5 HALYs per 1000 persons). The HALY gains would be 1.4 times bigger if the 2030 World Health Organization global target for PA was achieved and 11 times bigger if all Australians adhered to the Australian PA guidelines. Conclusion: This study provides empirical support for the adoption of PA in strategies for the prevention of OA and back pain.
Jingzhi Yu, Kristopher Kapphahn, Hyatt Moore, Farish Haydel, Thomas Robinson, and Manisha Desai
Background: Clustering, a class of unsupervised machine learning methods, has been applied to physical activity data recorded by accelerometers to discover unique patterns of physical activity and health outcomes. The prediction strength metric provides a criterion to determine the optimal number of clusters for clustering methods. The aim of this study is to provide specific guidance for applying prediction strength to time series accelerometer data. Methods: For this purpose, we designed an extensive simulation study. We created a synthetic data set of accelerometer data using data from a childhood obesity management trial. We evaluated the role of a prespecified threshold of the prediction strength metric as a key input parameter. We compared the recommended threshold (between 0.8 and 0.9) with an approach we developed (Local Maxima). Results: The choice of threshold had a large impact on performance. When the noise level increased (greater overlap between true clusters), lower thresholds outperformed the recommended threshold, which tended to underestimate the true number of clusters. In addition, we found that sorting the data by magnitude of intensity in windows within the time series of interest prior to clustering alleviated sensitivity to threshold choice. Furthermore, for accelerometer data, we recommend that the Local Maxima approach be utilized together with a graphical evaluation of the prediction strength metric function over values of k. Finally, we strongly suggest sorting of the data prior to clustering if sorting retains meaning for the research question at hand. Conclusion: Our recommendations can help future researchers discover more robust patterns from accelerometer data.
Christopher M. McLeod, Nola Agha, N. David Pifer, and Tarlan Chahardovali
This study examines minor league baseball players’ future-oriented labor by interviewing 44 baseball players and collecting data on 8,000 minor league baseball players’ careers. Minor league baseball players’ expectations of reaching Major League Baseball impacted how they evaluated their work in the present, leading them to tolerate unfair pay and working conditions. We show that players’ expectations of reaching Major League Baseball were moderately unrealistic, partly due to managerial practices encouraging unrealistic expectations. This study contributes to labor research by showing that future-oriented labor ideology is based on unrealistic expectations that employers can promote to create opportunities for future status coercion.
Monica Nelson and Shannon Jette
Women athletes’ experiences of gendered body ideals and empowerment have been well-documented. However, the existing literature largely neglects strength sports, which have a complex relationship with gendered norms given their historical association with masculinity and wide range of weight classes. In this article, we use a feminist poststructuralist lens to explore how eight Olympic Weightlifters participating in the women’s category choose their weight classes while balancing strength, competitiveness, and esthetics. Participants often referenced sport-specific and gendered body discourses when choosing their weight classes, yet also identified a nondiscursive element that could force them to forego athletic and esthetic body ideals: the body itself. Based on these narratives, we suggest that awareness of the “rebellious body” be considered an important element of women athletes’ bodily empowerment.
